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HOW  TO  BUILD 

* 

FIREPROOF 

AND 

SLOW-BURNING 


BY 

FRANCIS  C.  MOORE 

President  of  the  Continental 
Fire  Insurance  Co.;  Author 
of  How  to  Build  a  Home? 
Water  Works  and  Pipe  Dis- 
tribution; Fire  Insurance  and 
Causes  of  Fires,  Etc.,  Etc. 


THIRD  EDITION 
J899 


PTHE 

NJVERS/TY 


YORK 
CONTINENTAL  PRINT 


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HOW  TO  BUILD  A  HOME.-  F.  C.  Moore. 

Suggestions  as  to  safety  to  health,  comfort,  convenience  and 
economy,  with  forms  for  Architects1  Agreements,  Builders' 
Contract,  etc.  156  pages,  cloth,  $1.00,  paper  50  cents. 

HOW  TO  BUILD  FIREPROOF  AND  SLOW-BURNING.-F.  C.  Moore. 

Suggestions  for  warehouses,  office  or  mercantile  buildings,  etc., 
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WATER  WORKS  AND  PIPE  DISTRIBUTION.-  F.  C.  Moore. 

For  those  having  in  charge  erection  of  water  works.  Particulars 
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MODEL  FORM  OF  BUILDING  LAW  FOR  CITIES. 

Drafted  by  Commission  appointed  by  N.  Y.  Legislature.    64  pp. 

FIRE  INSURANCE 

An  explanation  of  the  principles  and  methods  of  the  business  of 
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FIRE  DOORS  AND  SHUTTERS.— Instructions  for  Construction.  20pp. 

MODEL  FORM  OF  LOCAL  LAW  REGULATING  CONSTRUCTION  OF 

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AUTOMATIC  SPRINKLER  EQUIPMENTS. 

Suggestions  for  owners  of  sprinkled  risks  and  others.    Leaflet. 

FAULTS  OF  MANAGEMENT  AND  CONSTRUCTION. 

Suggestions  how  to  guard  against  fires  from  gas  brackets,  ashes, 
rubbish  and  carelessness  in  general. 

EXPLANATION  OF  THE  CO-INSURANCE  CLAUSE.— Leaflet. 

SAFETY  FUND  LAW  OF  NEW  YORK  STATE. 

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which  the  CONTINENTAL  transacts  its  business. 

EXPLANATION  OF  RENT  INSURANCE  WITH  SAMPLE  FORMS. 
If  your  building  burns  the  rent  stops  unless  you  have  a  rent 
policy.    Leaflet. 

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HOW  TO  BUILD 
FIREPROOF 

AND 

SLOW-BURNING 


BY 

FRANCIS  C.  l^OORE 

President  of  the  Continental 
Fire  Insurance  Co.;  Author 
of  How  to  Build  a  Home; 
Water  Works  and  Pipe  Dis- 
tribution; Fire  Insurance  and 
Causes  of  Fires,  Etc.,  Etc* 


THIRD  EDITION 
J899 


OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 


NEW  YORK 
CONTINENTAL  PRINT 


pyright,  1898  and  1899  by 
v.  FRANCIS  C.  MOORE. 


PREFACE. 

BY  way  of  preface  to  the  following  treatise,  I 
wish  to  explain  that  it  has  been  prepared  after 
careful  consultation  with  well-known  ex- 
perts and  after  observation  and  study  of  numerous 
fires  in  ' '  fireproof ' '  structures,  especially  of  those 
which  caused  losses  to  my  own  company.  I 
offer  it  to  property  owners  who  contemplate 
building,  feeling  that  I  can,  without  immodesty, 
claim  that  the  suggestions  are  important  and 
worthy  of  consideration  for  the  reason  stated — 
that  they  have  been  revised  by  competent  judges 
and  have  already  run  the  gauntlet  of  expert 
criticism. 

F.  C.  M. 


New  York,  February  1899. 


112888 


HOW  TO  BUILD  FIREPROOF, 


FRANCIS  C.  MOORE, 

President  of  the  Continental  Insurance  Co..  N.  Y. 

Delegate  of  New  York  Board  of  Fi.-o  Underwriters  to  the  Board 

of  Examiners  of  the  N.  Y.  B'ld'g  Dep't. 


IT  seems  advisable,  in  a  treatise  of  this  kind,  to 
state,  as  premises,  certain  propositions  which 
might  be  treated  as  deductions.    Some  of  them 
are  axiomatic  or  self-evident,  needing  no  demon- 
stration,  and  ought  to  appeal  to  any  practical 
mind  as  being  truths,  rather  illustrated  than  dem- 
onstrated by  the  experience  of  the  past  few  years. 
In  conformity  with  this  line  of  treatment,  I  desire 
to  state  by  way  of  premise : 

First. — It  may  be  claimed  that  no  construction 
is  fireproof,  and  that  even  iron  and  masonry  could 
with  propriety  be  designated  as  "slow  burning." 
The  iron  or  steel  used  in  a  modern  building  has, 
in  its  time,  been  smelted  in  a  furnace  which  pre- 
sented no  greater  capacity  for  running  metal  into 


6  HOW    TO    BUILD    FIREPROOF. 

pigs  than  some  of  our  modern  buildings,  whose  in- 
terior openings  from  cellar  to  roof  correspond  to 
the  chimney  of  a  furnace  and  the  front  door  to  its 
tuyere.  Indeed  if  a  pyrometer  could  be  adjusted 
during  the  progress  of  a  fire  it  would  be  found 
to  rise  quite  as  high  as  in  any  forge. 

Second. — GLASS  WINDOWS  will  not  preveii  I  the 
entrance  of  flame  or  heat  from  a  fire  in  an  ex- 
posing building.  It  may  seem  strange  that  so 
obvious  a  proposition  should  be  thought  worth 
stating,  and  yet  to-day  more  than  75$  of  the  <  'fire- 
proof "  structures  of  the  country  have  window 
openings  to  the  extent  of  from  40$  to  75$  of  the 
superficial  area  of  each  enclosing  wall  without  fire- 
proof shutters.  Heat  from  a  building  across  a 
wide  street  finds  ready  entrance  through  windows 
and  the  several  fireproof  floors  serve  only  to  hole! 
ignitible  merchandise  in  the  most  favorable  form 
of  distribution  for  ignition  and  combustion,  like  a 
great  gridiron,  to  the  full  force  of  an  outside 
fire.  This  was  the  case  in  the  burning  of  the 
Manhattan  Bank  Building,  on  Broadway,  in  New 
York,  and  of  the  Home  Building,  in  Pittsburg. 
The  latter  building  was  full  of  plate  glass  windows, 
16x16  feet.  Such  buildings  are  not  more  capable 
of  protecting  their  contents  than  a  glass  show-case 
would  be.  A  recent  article  on  the  Pittsburg  fire 
in  the  "  Engineering  NQWS  "  aptly  expresses  this 
in  the  following  words  :  i  *  There  seems  to  be  some 
irony  in  calling  buildings  fireproof  which  opposed 


HOW    TO    BUILD    FIREPROOF.  7 

hardly  anything  to  a  fire  from  across  the  street 
more  sturdy  than  plate  glass ! ' ' 

Third. — OPENINGS  THROUGH  FLOORS  for  stair- 
ways or  elevators,  and  for  gas,  water  and  steam 
pipes  and  electric  wires,  from  floor  to  floor  of  fire- 
proof buildings,  tend  to  the  spread  of  flame  like 
so  many  flues  and  should  be  fire -stopped  at  each 
story.  This  fault  is  more  generally  overlooked 
than  any  other.  Ducts  for  piping,  wiring,  etc., 
should  never  be  of  wood.  In  the  Mills  Building, 
in  New  York,  a  fire,  not  long  since,  jumped 
through  two  or  three  floors  from  the  one  on  which 
it  originated,  by  means  of  the  passageways  for 
piping,  electric  wiring,  etc.,  comparatively  small 
ducts,  but  sufficient  for  the  passage  of  flame.  In 
one  instance,  the  fire  skipped  one  floor,  where  it 
was  cut  off,  and  ignited  the  second  floor  above. 

Fourth. — In  view  of  the  fact  that  it  is  necessary 
to  cover  iron  with  non-combustible,  non-con- 
ducting material  to  prevent  its  ex- 
posure to  fire  and  consequent  ex- 
pansion,  and  in  view  of  the  fact  that 
all  iron-work,  except  cast-iron,  will  rust  to  the 
point  of  danger,  it  is  best  to  use  cast-iron  for  all 
vertical  supports,  columns,  pillars,  etc.  It  is  not 
advisable,  of  course,  to  have  floor  beams  of  cast- 
iron  (except  in  the  form  of  Hodgkinson  beams 
thoroughly  tested.)  If  a  floor  beam  should  give 
way,  however,  it  might  not  necessarily  wreck  the 
building,  whereas  if  a  vital  column  should  give 


8  HOW    TO    BUILD    FIREPROOF. 

way  a  collapse  of  the  entire  structure  might  result. 

At  a  convention  held  some  years  ago  in  New 

York,  at  which  were  present  a  greater  number  of 

experts  in  iron  than  probably  ever 
Rust  met  before  or  since  in  one  room, 

there  was  not  one  who  contended 
that  cast-iron  would  rust  beyond  the  harmless 
incrustation  of  the  thickness  of  a  knife  blade, 
whereas  there  was  not  one  who  did  not  believe 
wrought  iron  would  rust  to  the  point  of  danger ; 
and  there  was  not  one  who  claimed  to  know 
whether  steel  would  or  not,  each  admitting  that 
steel  had  not  been  sufficiently  tested  as  to  rust  to 
warrant  a  reliable  opinion.  If  it  could  be  relied 
upon  as  rust  proof,  it  would  be  superior  to  all 
other  material  for  fire -proof  buildings  because  of 
its  great  strength  in  proportion  to  weight.  The 
use  of  steel  in  construction  is  growing,  because  it 
is  cheaper  than  wrought-iron,  as  lighter  weights 
are  used  for  the  same  strength,  but  while  in  some 
respects  superior  to  wrought  iron,  some  of  the 
prevailing  impressions  with  regard  to  it  are  erron- 
eous. Defects  not  possible  of  detection  by  tests 
are  liable  to  exist  in  its  structure.  Among  the 
first  steel  beams  brought  to  the  city  of  New  York 
there  were  instances  in  which  they  were  actually 
broken  in  two  by  falling  from  the  level  of  trucks 
to  the  pavement,  probably  due  to  their  having 
been  rolled  when  too  cold,  as  steel  when  rolled 
below  a  certain  temperature  becomes  brittle.  Bet- 
ter beams  are  now  made. 


HOW   TO    BUILD    FIREPROOF.  9 

In  my  opinion,  cast-iron  colums  are  superior  to 
steel  and  more  reliable.  It  is  not  generally  known 
that  American  cast-iron  is  vastly  superior  to 
English  cast-iron,  and  will  stand  a  greater  strain 
without  breaking.  Cast-iron,  moreover,  will  not 
expand  under  heat  to  the  same  extent  as  wrought 
iron  and  steel,  which  is  another  fact  in  its  favor. 

No  bearing  column  should  be  placed  in  such  a 
position  that  it  cannot  be  uncovered  and  exposed 
for  examination  without  danger  to  the  structure. 
One  of  the  ablest  architects  in  New        Columns 
York  makes  it  a  rule  to  fireproof          should 
his  columns  so  that  they  can  be  ex-       be  striPPed 
amined  at  any  time  by  removing  the  fireproofing 
to   determine   whether   rust   has   invaded    their 
capacity  to  carry  their  loads.     In  my  judgment, 
periodical  examinations   should  be  made,  from 
time  to  time,  in  this  way  of  all  wrought  iron  or 
steel  columns,  as  it  may  happen  that  a  leaky 
steam  or  water  pipe  has  worked  serious  harm. 
Such  a  discovery  was  accidently  made  in  an  im- 
portant New  York  building. 

Numerous   newspaper   paragraphs  appear,  at 
intervals,   which   claim   that   metal  stripped   of 
its  covering  of  cement  has  been  found  exempt 
from  rust,  with  the  paint  intact,       Cement  as 
&c.,  and  the  fact  is  cited  as  evi-     a  preventive 
dence  that  cement  is  a  preserva- 
tive of  iron  and  that  the  danger  of  rust  is  over- 
estimated.   It  is  probable  that  cement  will  protect 


10  HOW   TO    BUILD    FIREPROOF. 

paint  for  a  long  time  and,  of  course,  paint,  if 
properly  put  on,  will  protect  iron  while  the  oil  in 
it  lasts.  Painting,  by  the  way,  should  be  done 
with  the  best  quality  of  linseed  oil  and  without 
the  use  of  turpentine,  benzine  or  dryers.  It 
should  be  thoroughly  applied  in  three  coats,  with 
about  a  gallon  to  400  square  feet,  but  the  iron 
should  first  be  thoroughly  cleaned  of  rust  and 
dirt,  by  pickling  or  other  process.  Paint  is  rarely 
properly  applied,  however,  and  even  when  of  the 
best  quality,  is  a  preservative  of  the  metal,  as 
already  stated,  only  so  long  as  the  oil  in  it  lasts. * 

Those  who  claim  to  have  evidence  of  the  ex- 
emption of  iron  from  rust  rely,  I  think  it. will  be 
found,  upon  iron  which  has  been  under  excep- 
tionally favorable  conditions,  free  from  damp- 
ness, the  action  of  gases,  etc.,  overlooking  the 
fact  that  a  leaking  water  pipe  or  steam  pipe,  or 
the  escape  of  gases  from  boiler  furnaces,  will 
attack  iron  and  gradually  but  surely  consume  it. 
A  notable  instance  of  this  is  the  case  of  the  plate 
girder  of  the  Washington  Bridge  over  the  Boston 
&  Albany  Railroad,  in  Boston,  where  a  quarter 
inch  plate  girder  was  recently  found  to  be  entirely 
consumed  in  places  from  the  operation  of  gases 
from  the  locomotives  passing  below. 

It  is  quite  common  to  have  advocates  of 
wrought  iron  cite  railroad  bridges  and  the  ele- 
vated railroad  structures  of  New  York  as  proof  of 
their  claims,  but  if  they  will  take  the  trouble  to 

*It  should  not  be  applied  in  damp  weather  but  only  when 
the  metal  surface  is  perfectly  dry. 


HOW    TO    BUILD    FIREPKOOF.  11 

examine  these  structures  they  will  discover  that, 
in  spite  of  the  fact  that  they  are  exposed  to  view, 
so  that  they  can  be  painted  frequently,  the  evi- 
dences of  rust  are  unmistakable,  especially  about 
the  rivets  ;  and  one  can  well  imagine  what  would 
be  the  result  in  the  case  of  riveted  iron  members 
in  the  skeleton  structure  of  a  building  where 
such  ironwork  is  entirely  concealed  from  view, 
periodical  inspections  being  impossible. 

Rust  is  especially  liable  in  the  cellars  and 
basements  of  buildings.  The  wrought  iron  fric- 
tion brakes  of  freight  elevators  in  the  cellars  of 
stores,  for  example,  are  frequently  found  so  con- 
sumed with  rust  as  to  be  easily  rubbed  to  pieces 
in  the  hand. 

STEEL  RIVETS  are  dangerous  and  they  should 
never  be  used,  unless  of  a  very  superior  quality, 
so  soft  that  hammering  will  not  crystalize  the 
material  and  yet  with  sufficient  tensile  strength 
to  insure  perfect  holding  qualities.  This  is  diffi- 
cult to  secure.  Their  use  in  columns  for  buildings 
is  objectionable,  as  they  rust  badly  under  certain 
conditions.  The  beam  bearing  bracket  shelf  on 
cast-iron  columns,  should  be  cast  in  one  piece  with 
the  column  and  the  beams  should  be  bolted  to 
the  columns  to  secure  rigidity. 

EXPANSION  OF  IRON. 

It  is  generally  supposed  and  frequently  stated 
that  there  is  a  great  difference  between  the  ex- 
pansion of  iron  and  masonry  by  heat.  This  is 


12  HOW   TO    BUILD    FIREPROOF. 

not  the  case.     For  example,  the  length  of  a  bar 
which  at  32  degrees  is  represented  by  1,  at  212 
degrees  would  be  represented  as  follows : 
Cast  Iron,  1.0011 

Wrought  Iron,          1.0012 
Cement,  1.0014 

Granite,  1.0007 

Marble,  1.0011 

Sandstone,  1.0017 

Brick  1.0005* 

Fire-brick,  1.0005 

In  the  fireproof  building  of  the  Western  Union 
Telegraph  Company  in  New  York,  some  years 
ago,  a  heavy  brick  pier,  seven  or  eight  feet  in 
diameter,  adjoined  the  wall  of  the  boiler  fur- 
naces. The  difference  in  expansion  in  the  brick- 
work next  to  this  furnace  wall  as  compared  with 
that  of  the  remaining  brickwork  of  the  pier,  was 
so  great  as  to  produce  a  crushing  of  the  material 
from  top  to  bottom  of  the  pier,  for  a  depth  of 
several  inches,  and  it  was  found  necessary  to 
change  the  furnace  wall  and  leave  an  air  space 
between  it  and  the  pier. 

CONDUCTIVITY. 

While  the   difference   in   expansion  between 

masonry  and  iron  incorporated  with  it  is  less 

per  running  foot  than  is  generally  supposed  and 

while  the  difference  in  expansion 

Expansion      between  a  cubic  foot  of  iron  and 

that  of   a  cubic  foot  of  masonry 

would  hardly  be  noticeable,  especially  if  the  iron 


HOW    TO    BUILD    FIREPROOF.  13 

were  covered  on  all  four  sides ;  yet  in  stretches 
of  50  feet  or  more,  as  in  the  case  of  iron  I-beams 
and  girders,  the  cumulative  effect  of  expansion 
in  uncovered  iron  might  be  a  serious  matter — 
quite  sufficient,  with  the  rises  of  temperature  due 
to  a  burning  building,  to  push  out  the  bearing 
walls  and  wreck  the  building.  Especially  is  this 
true  of  temperatures  higher  than  500  degrees. 
It  is  unnecessary  to  suggest  that  metal  differs 
from  masonry  in  the  important  respect  that  heat 
does  not  travel  throughout  the  entire  length  of 
the  latter,  while  it  does  in  the  case  of  metal. 

In  other  words,  while  the  difference  between 
the  expansion  of  a  lineal  foot  of  iron  as  compared 
with  a  lineal  foot  of  masonry,  marble,  brick,  etc., 
is  very  slight,  the  difference  in  conductivity  is 
very  great.  The  conducting  power  of  silver,  for 
example,  being  represented  by  1,  copper  would 
be  .845,  cast-iron  .359,  gold  .981,  marble  .024  and 
brick  .01 — an  important  fact  to  be  considered  in 
the  construction  of  buildings.  Brickwork  raised 
to  a  white  heat  would  not  raise  the  temperature 
of  other  masonry  in  the  same  wall  a  few  feet 
away,  but  one  end  of  an  iron  I-beam  could  not 
be  raised  to  a  white  heat  without  raising  the  tem- 
perature of  the  beam  for  its  entire  length. 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  iron  responds  so 
readily  to  temperature  that  in  surveying  land,  a 
surveyor's  one  hundred  foot  iron  chain  will,  in 
measuring  the  distance  of  a  mile,  result  in  a  vari- 


14  HOW   TO    BUILD    FIREPROOF. 

ation  of  five  feet  between  winter  temperature  and 
summer  temperature,  resulting  in  an  error  of  one 
acre  in  every  533.  Of  course  atmospheric  rises 
of  temperature  would  not  affect  the  protected 
structural  iron  in  a  building. 

PROVISION"   FOR   EXPANSION. 

Where  iron  beams  and  girders  are  inserted  in 
walls  without  sufficient  space  left  for  their  ex- 
pansion under  heat  they  are  almost  certain  to 
overthrow  the  bearing  walls  by  their  expansion 
thrust.  A  large  warehouse  in  Vienna  in  which 
such  provision  had  been  contemplated  by  the  ar- 
chitect was  totally  destroyed,  with  its  contents, 
by  reason  of  the  fact  that  an  officious  subordinate, 
discovering  the  space  in  the  wall  purposely  left 
at  the  end  of  each  beam,  deliberately  poured 
liquid  cement  therein,  which,  having  set,  effectu- 
ally thwarted  the  well  meant  intention  of  the  ar* 
chitect,  and  resulted  in  the  destruction  of  the 
building. 

The  expansion  thrust  of  iron  beams  may  be 
computed  upon  the  following  factor  of  expansion : 
rolled  iron  of  a  length  of  1562  feet  will  expand 
one-eighth  of  an  inch  for  every  degree  of  temper- 
ature. The  heat  of  a  burning  building  as  already 
stated  is  enormous — sufficient  to  fuse  most  known 
materials;  it  may  safely  be  estimated  to  be  at 
least  1000  degrees ;  therefore  a  length  of  rolled 
iron  of  1562  feet  at  1000  degrees  of  temperature 
would  expand  about  125  inches,  and  a  50-foot 


HOW   TO    BUILD    FIREPROOF.  15 

length  of  iron  girder  would  expand  between  four 
and  five  inches,  showing  that  there  should  be  a 
play  at  each  end  of  at  least  two  inches  if  the  iron 
is  not  fireproofed.  Inasmuch  as  in  iron  con- 
struction the  iron  beams  and  girders  are  usually 
anchored  to  the  walls  to  steady  them,  the  space 
should  be  left  and  the  tie  to  the  anchor  should 
be  by  a  movable  hinge  joint,  which  would  be  of 
the  same  strength  with  an  inflexible  anchor  for 
all  tying  purposes  but  would  yield  under  the 
thrust  pressure  like  an  elbow  and  allow  play  of 
the  beam,  or  stiff  anchors  should  have  elongated 
holes  to  allow  expansion  when  beams  are  of  great 
length.  Girders  are  seldom  over  25  feet  long, 
but  if  bolted  together,  as  is  frequently  the  case, 
they  may  be  120  feet  or  more  long,  and  a  line  of 
columns  from  cellar  to  roof  of  a  building  may 
easily  have  one  continuous  iron  structure  of  two 
hundred  or  more  feet.  It  should  be  remembered, 
however,  that  this  danger  from  the  expansion  of 
iron  may  be  almost  wholly  counteracted  by  pro- 
tecting it  from  exposure  to  fire  through  the  use 
of  non-conducting  material.  It  is  more  impor- 
tant to  protect  girders  than  beams. 

The  mistaken  pride  with  which  the  owners  of 
some  buildings  point  to  exposed  iron  beams  in 
ceilings  as  evidence  that  the  floors  are  "fire- 
proof," actually  justifying  the  supposition  that 
they  are  left  exposed  for  such  display,  would  be 
ludicrous  if  it  were  not  serious.  In  buildings 


16  HOW   TO    BUILD    FIREPROOF. 

occupied  for  offices  or  dwellings,  where  there  is 
not  sufficient  combustible  material  to  endanger 
the  beams,  it  is  not  so  objectionable;  but  in 
warehouses  and  stores,  filled  with  merchandise, 
such  construction  is  dangerous ;  and  if  one  of 
the  upper  floors  should  give  way  it  would  come 
hammering  down  to  carry  all  below  and  thorough- 
ly wreck  the  structure. 

In  this  connection  it  is  well  to  say  that  com- 
bustible merchandise  should  never  be  stored  one 
hundred  feet  above  the  street  grade  even  in  a 
fireproof  building,  since  the  average  fire  depart- 
ment cannot  reach  it  at  that  height. 

Fifth. — The  roof,  that  portion  of  a  building 

which  ought  to  be  most  carefully  watched  during 

construction,  is  often  the  most  neg- 

Roof         lected,    woodwork    entering    into 

its  composition.     In  the   case   of 

the  Home  Building,   at  Pittsburg,  the  cornice 

was  supported  on  wooden  outriggers. 

Sixth. — PARTITIONS.  These  should  not  be  erec- 
ted upon  wooden  sills,  as  is  sometimes  the  case — 
only,  however,  with  ignorant  and  inexperienced 
architects,  who  suppose  that  it  is  necessary  to 
use  wood  in  order  to  nail  baseboards  and  other 
trim  at  the  bottom  of  the  partition.  Porous 
terra  cotta  will  hold  nails  and  should  be  used  in 
preference  to  wood,  which  as  soon  as  it  burns  out 
will  let  down  the  entire  partition. 

Seventh: — All  buildings   over     75    feet  high 


HOW   TO    BUILD    FIKEPRROF.  17 

should  be  provided  with.  4 -inch  or,  better  still, 
6-inch  vertical  pipes,  with  Siamese  connections  at 
the  street,  for  the  use  of  the  fire 
department,  extending  to  the  roof,  standa  ^  es 
with  outlets  for  hose  at  each  story 
and  on  the  roof.  This  would  save  the  time  of 
carrying  hose  to  upper  floors — a  difficult  task  in 
the  case  of  high  buildings.  Ample  tanks  of  water 
should  be  provided  on  the  roof  supported  by  pro- 
tected iron  beams  resting  on  iron  templates  on  the 
brick  walls,  to  supply  the  building's  inside  pipe 
system  for  fire  extinction,  and  secure  pressure  by 
gravity  or  by  some  other  method  constantly  oper- 
ative, especially  on  holidays  and  at  night.  Stone 
templates  should  not  be  used,  and  care  should  be 
taken  to  secure  strong  supports  so  that,  in  the 
event  of  fire  below,  the  tanks  will  not  come 
crashing  through  the  building  to  destroy  it  and 
endanger  the  lives  of  firemen.  Two  such  disas- 
ters in  fireproof  buildings  within  a  year  show  how 
true  is  this  proposition.  Tanks  in  the  basement 
under  air  pressure  are  also  a  great  advantage  and 
recent  invention  has  perfected  them  to  the  point 
of  reliability. 

Fire  Marshal  Swenie,  of  Chicago,  urges  that 
stand-pipes  should  not  be  less  than  six  inches  in- 
ternal diameter,  and  that  a  check  valve  should  be 
provided  so  that,  when  steamers  are  attached, 
their  force  will  be  added  to  that  of  the  local 
pumps.  Each  floor  should  have  hose  connections 


18  HOW   TO    BUILD    FIREPROOF. 

with,  the  stand  pipes  and  sufficient  hose  to  reach 
to  the  most  remote  point  of  the  floor  above,  and 
this  hose  should  be  frequently  inspected  to  see 
that  it  is  in  order.  He  recommends  that  a  code 
of  signals  by  which  communication  can  be  estab- 
lished between  the  firemen  and  the  engineer  of 
the  building  is  essential. 

Eighth. — All  high  buildings  should  have  con- 
stantly present,  night  and  day,  some  competent 
person  understanding  the  elevator 

Night  „  , . 

watchman       machinery,  fire  appliances,  etc. ,  so 

as  to  aid  the  firemen  in  reaching 

the  upper  levels ;  and  there  should  be  sufficient 

steam  in  the  boilers,   at  all  times,  to  run   one 

elevator. 

I  quote  from  the  valuable  treatise  on  handling 
fires  in  these  buildings  presented  by  Fire  Marshal 
Swenie  to  the  International  Association  of  Fire 
Engineers  held  in  August  1897.  He  says : 

•'In  case  the  elevators  fail  it  is  necessary  to  use  the  stairway, 
and  after  the  truck  men  should  follow  the  pipe  men  bearing  the 
necessary  hose,  and  this  must  be  carried  on  the  shoulders  of  the 
men.  A  50-foot  section  of  ordinary  2j^-inch  cotton  hose  with 
couplings  weighs  from  56  to  60  pounds,  and  250  feet  of  1  J4^-inch 
rope  about  65  pounds,  either  of  which  is  a  good  load  for  a  man 
who  must  climb  a  steep  stairway  to  the  height  of  250  feet.  With 
an  average  rise  of  seven  inches  per  step,  that  means  taking  some 
430  vertical  steps  before  reaching  the  scene  of  action  and  con- 
suming from  seven  to  ten  minutes  of  time.  If  it  is  found  necess- 
ary to  use  hose  instead  of  the  standpipes  for  taking  the  water 
from  the  street  to  the  floor  the  hose  should  be  taken  up  in  the  ele- 
vator, if  it  is  running,  and  then  lowered  until  connection  is  made 
with  the  hose  below." 


HOW    TO    BUILD    FIREPROOF.  19 

N in th. — Marble,  slate  and  other  stones,  are  cer- 
tain to  disintegrate  or  crumble  when  subjected 
to  the  joint  action  of  heat  and 
water.  For  this  reason,  ninety  per 
cent  of  the  staircases  in  modern 
fireproof  buildings  would  be  found  utterly  un- 
reliable in  the  event  of  fire,  either  for  the  escape 
of  the  inmates  or  for  the  use  of  firemen — a  serious 
consideration.  Stone  treads  are  usually  let  into 
iron  frames,  being  supported  around  their  edges 
by  a  bearing  of  about  half  an  inch  on  shallow 
rabbets  in  the  strings  and  risers  and  as  the  stone 
treads  would  give  way  and  fall  through  in  case  of 
fire,  it  would  be  impossible  for  a  person  to  find  a 
footing  on  the  stairways.  Two -inch  oak  treads 
might  actually  last  longer ;  but  a  safer  staircase 
would  be  one  with  a  frame  work  of  iron,  having 
an  iron  web  or  gridiron  pattern  tread  to  support 
the  stone  or  slate,  the  interstices  or  openings 
being  small  enough  to  prevent  the  passage  of  a 
foot,  so  that  if  the  stone  tread  should  disen- 
tegrate,  the  staircase  would  still  remain  passable. 

It  is  possible  to  have  the  supporting  tread  of 
open-work  wrought-iron  in  an  ornamental  pattern 
which,  in  relief  against  the  white  marble  tread 
resting  on  it,  would  present  a  tasteful  appearance 
from  the  underside  or  soffit  of  the  staircase,  with 
this  great  advantage  that,  in  the  event  the  action 
of  fire  and  water  should  pulverize  the  marble  or 


20  HOW    TO    BUILD    FIREPROOF. 

slate  tread,  it  would  still  afford  a  safe  support  for 
the  foot.  In  the  case  of  the  burning  of  the  two 
fireproof  buildings,  Temple  Court  and  the  Man- 
hattan Savings  Bank,  in  New  York,  the  slate 
treads  yielded  early  in  the  fire,  leaving  staircases 
with  openings  the  full  size  of  the  tread,  which, 
within  a  few  minutes  after  the  fire  started,  were 
impassable  either  for  firemen  or  inmates.  It 
is  astounding  that  this  vital  fault  should  be  so 
generally  overlooked  in  fireproof  buildings. 

I  may  here  state  that  the  Manhattan  Savings 
Bank  building  did  not  deserve  to  be  called  ' '  fire- 
proof "  for  the  reason  that  it  had  hollow  spaces 
under  the  wooden  fioor  boards  and  that  the  iron 
beams  and  girders  were  not  protected.  Some  of 
them  were  large,  riveted,  box  girders,  which 
yielded  quickly  to  the  heat  of  burning  goods  and 
pushed  out  the  side  walls. 

It  is  generally  supposed  that  it  is  not  necessary 
to  be  careful  as  to  stone  treads  in  buildings  occu- 
pied solely  for  offices  separated  in  fireproof  hall- 
ways in  which,  it  is  claimed,  there  is  nothing  to 
burn;  but  in  the  case  of  one  large  fireproof 
building  of  this  kind  in  New  York  I  found  the 
space  under  the  staircase  in  the  basement  story, 
was  used  to  store  the  waste  paper  and  rubbish  of 
the  building — material  particularly  likely  to 
cause  a  fire  by  concealed  matches,  oily  waste, 
cigar  or  cigarette  stumps,  etc.,  and  to  make  a 
lively  and  quick  fire  quite  sufficient  to  destroy 
stone  staircase  treads.  Even  where  there  is  no 


HOW    TO    BUILD    FIREPROOF.  21 

combustible  material  in  the  hallway,  if  the  stair- 
case is  near  windows,  stone  treads  may  be  de- 
stroyed by  exposure  to  burning  buildings  and  by 
the  combustion  of  window  frames,  dadoes,  wain- 
scotes  and  other  wooden  trim. 

Tenth. — No  building  should  exceed  in  height 
the  width  of  the  street  on  which  it  is  located,  from 
the  viewpoint  of  light  and  health;  nor  in  any 
case,  in  excess  of  100  feet  for  mercantile  occu- 
pancy, nor  a  height  in  excess  of  200  feet  for  office 
occupancy. 

Eleventh. — It  should  be  remembered  that  mer- 
chandise, furniture,  etc.,  are  combustible,  no 
matter  whether  located  in  fireproof 
buildings  or  in  ordinary  buildings. 
This  obvious  fact  seems  generally 
to  be  ignored.  In  fact  combustible  material  may 
sometimes  be  more  effectually  and  thoroughly 
destroyed  in  a  fireproof  building  than  in  an  ordi- 
nary building,  since  the  early  collapse  of  the 
latter  may  smother  the  fire  and  effect  salvage, 
whereas  fireproof  fioors  support  the  contents  of 
the  former  and  distribute  them  so  that  they  are 
more  certain  to  be  destroyed.  There  was  not  a 
dollar  of  salvage  in  the  large  stock  of  merchan- 
dise in  the  Home  Building,  at  Pittsburg.  The 
entire  household  furniture  of  a  tenant  in  one  of 
the  best  fireproof  apartment  houses  in  New  York 
was  totally  cremated;  and  a  fire  in  the  Great 
Northern  "fireproof"  Hotel,  at  Chicago,  serious- 
ly burned  the  automatic  organ  to  the  extent  of 


22  HOW   TO    BUILD    FIREPROOF. 

over  $4,000.  There  is  no  more  reason  why  the 
combustible  contents  of  a  fire-proof  building 
shonld  not  be  consumed  than  why  the  fuel  in 
a  stove  should  not  be  burned. 

Twelfth. — ENCLOSING  WALLS.  These  should 
be  of  brick,  the  brick  work  of  the  lower  stories 
especially,  if  not  of  all,  being  laid  in  cement 
mortar.  In  fact  the  specifications  for  a  building 
in  the  compact  part  of  the  mercantile  section  of 
a  city  ought  to  be  drawn  in  contemplation  of  the 
possible  cremation  of  its  contents  and  the  gener- 
ation of  heat  considerably  greater  than  2,000 
degrees  Fahrenheit.  The  heat  of  a  wood  fire  is 
from  800  to  1140  degrees  ;  charcoal,  about  2200  ; 
coal,  about  2400.  Cast-iron  will  melt  at  between 
1900  and  2800  degrees.  Wrought  iron  3000°  to 
3500°  ;  Steel,  2400°  to  2600°. 

If  an  architect  should  be  required  to  draw 
specifications  for  a  building  adjoining  others,  with 
the  knowledge  beforehand  that  its  entire  con- 
tents, from  cellar  to  roof,  were  to  be  totally  con- 
sumed, and  he  were  under  a  bond  to  pay  damages 
to  surrounding  property,  he  would  not  be  more 
severe  in  his  exactions  than  should  a  building 
law  protecting  neighborhood  rights  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  property ;  for  a  mercantile  or  manufac- 
turing building  sometimes  generates  a  greater 
heat  in  combustion  than  a  smelting  furnace. 

If  the  architect  of  a  building  were  actually  de- 
signing a  structure  which  could  safely  cremate 


JIOW    TO    BUILD    FIREPROOF.  23 

its  own  contents,  how  different  would  be  the 
nature  of  the  device  from  the  flimsy  buildings 
which  form  the  larger  portion  of  our  great  cities ! 
When  it  is  borne  in  mind  that  where  one  such 
building  gives  way,  it  follows,  as  a  matter  of 
course — the  next  on  either  side  being  no  more 
substantial  than  the  first — that  a  conflagration 
must  ensue,  the  wonder  is,  not  that  we  have  so 
many  sweeping  fires  in  the  cities  of  this  country 
but,  that  each  city  is  not  in  turn  destroyed,  block 
by  block.  It  is  a  high  tribute  to  the  efficiency  of 
American  Firemen  that  such  conflagrations  as 
those  of  Chicago  and  Boston  are  not  disasters  of 
annual  occurrence,  as  they  would  be  but  for  such 
fire  fighters  as  Bonner  of  New  York  and  Swenie 
of  Chicago.  It  is  criminal  to  erect  buildings 
which  endanger  the  valuable  lives  of  such  men 
when  a  few  dollars  spent  in  fireproofing  iron 
work  would  save  them. 

Every  unsafe  building  is  a  death  trap  for  heroic 
men  and  the  owner  who  deliberately  and  know- 
ingly erects  one  should  be  held  responsible  for 
loss  of  life.  It  is  safe  to  assert  that  every  building 
occupied  for  mercantile  or  manufacturing  pur- 
poses, with  naked  iron  columns,  is  a  fire  trap. 

Having  stated  these  premises,  some  of  which  1 
have  claimed  are  self-evident,  I  will  proceed  to 
consider,  as  briefly  as  possible,  without  going  too 
much  into  detail,  those  features  of  construction 
which  observation  has  taught  me  are  most  im- 
portant. 


SUMMARY  OF  IMPORTANT  POINTS. 


IT  is  hardly  necessary  to  deal  with  the  founda- 
tions of  buildings.     The  question  is  an  en- 
gineering problem  which  does  not  require  sug- 
gestions from  a  fire  standpoint,  and  I  shall  not 
deal  with  it  here,   other  than  to 
touch  again  upon  the  important      Foundation 
point  of  not  having  wrought  iron 
or  steel  columns  in  the  cellar  or  basement,  where 
moisture  and  gas  conditions  would  increase  the 
danger  of  rust. 

ENCLOSING    WALLS. 

These,  as  already  stated,  should  be  of  brick, 
the  lower  stories  laid  in  cement  mortar,  not  less 
than  16  inches  thick  at  the  top  of  the  building 
and  increasing  4  inches  in  thickness  for  every  25 
feet  in  height  to  the  bottom.  This  would  require 
a  44-inch  wall  at  the  grade  for  a  200  foot  building. 
The  thicknesses  here  recommended  are  for  build- 
ings not  exceeding  100  feet  in  depth.  If  they 
exceed  this  depth  without  curtain  or  cross  walls, 


26  HOW   TO    BUILD    FIREPROOF. 

or  proper  piers  or  buttresses,  the  walls  sliould  be 
increased  in  thickness  four  inches  for  every  ad- 
ditional  100  feet  in  length. 

Brick  is  the  best  known  resistant  of  fire.  Stone 
yields  readily  to  the  combined  effect  of  heat  and 
water,  and  even  terra  cotta  or  burned  clay  tile 
cannot  be  regarded  as  a  perfect  substitute  for 
hard  burned  brick. 

Under  no  circumstances  should  the  iron  frame 
work  of  a  skeleton  building  be  incorporated  in 
thin  enclosing  walls.  No  wall  that  has  not  a 
cross  section  sufficient  to  support  itself  without 
the  ironwork,  should  be  allowed,  aside  from  the 
importance  of  having  it  thick  enough  to  prevent 
the  passage  of  hot  air  from  an  adjoining  building. 

Curtain  walls  for  enclosing  walls,  supported  by 
the  longitudinal  members  of  skeleton  construc- 
tion are  objectionable ;  they  are  liable  to  be 
buckled  out  by  the  expansion  of  the  framework. 
The  great  trouble  with  modern  fireproof  struc- 
tures, even  under  the  New  York  Building  Law, 
is  that  while  the  separating  fireproof  floors  tend 
to  prevent  the  passage  of  fiame  from  one  story  to 
another,  the  enclosing  walls  are  often  insufficient 
to  prevent  heat  from  igniting  the  contents  of  an 
adjoining  building,  so  that  what  is  gained  by 
preventing  the  spread  of  fire  vertically  is  lost 
laterally. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  thickness 
of  walls  herein  recommended  is  not  for  carrying 


HOW    TO    BUILD    FIREPROOF.  27 

capacity  as  bearing  walls.  Thinner  walls  would 
answer  for  that  purpose.  It  is  intended  to  con- 
fine the  heat  generated  by  a  fire  and  should  be 
required  in  the  compact  portions  of  cities,  where 
every  man  should  be  compelled  to  build  with 
reference  to  the  safety  of  his  neighbor. 

Architects  and  builders  generally  seem  to  have 
in  mind  only  the  carrying  capacity  of  walls  and 
to  lose  sight  of  this  important  fact. 

As  the  floors  and  contents  of  a  mercantile 
building  burn  they  sink  to  the  bottom,  where 
enormously  high  temperatures  are  reached,  and 
it  is  for  this  reason  that  walls  should  increase  in 
thickness  as  they  approach  the  bottom,  on  the 
same  principle  that  the  walls  of  smelting  furnaces 
are  thicker  at  the  bottom  than  at  the  top.  Fire- 
proof floors  are  not  apt  to  give  way,  however. 

It  is  the  generally  accepted  opinion  that  a  12- 
inch  brick  wall  will  prevent  the  passage  of  fire, 
but  a  much  thicker  wall  may  fail  to  confine  the 
heat  of  a  burning  building  sufficiently  to  prevent 
the  ignition  of  combustible  merchandise  or  other 
material  in  an  adjoining  building.  In  a  fire 
which  occurred  in  Boston,  several  years  ago, 
combustible  material  was  ignited  through  a 
three-foot  wall,  which  became  so  hot  as  to  con- 
duct the  heat  into  the  adjoining  building.  In 
an  isolated  location  an  owner  might  be  permitted 
to  construct  his  walls  with  reference  only  to 
their  carrying  capacity,  but  where  he  builds  in 


28  HOW   TO   BUILD    FIREPROOF. 

the  compact  part  of  a  city,  storing  combustible 
materials  from  cellar  to  roof,  lie  should  be  re- 
quired so  to  build  that  a  fire  in  his  premises  will 
not  necessarily  destroy  his  neighbor's  property. 
He  may  well  observe  a  regulation  which,  in  view 
of  the  fact  that  the  buildings  of  his  neighbors 
outnumber  his  own  a  thousand  to  one,  will  en- 
sure that  he  will  be,  in  that  proportion,  the 
gainer  by  rules  which  secure  the  safety  of  all 
though  imposed  on  himself. 

I  do  not  believe  "skeleton  construction"  so 
called  should  be  permitted  for  stores,  warehouses 
or  manufactories  in  cities,  as  the  walls  are  not 
thick  enough  to  confine  the  heat  of  burning  mer- 
chandise. 

In  some  of  our  western  cities,  Detroit,  Chicago, 
etc.,  the  practice  is  growing  of  using  hollow 
tiling,  bonded  like  ordinary  brickwork,  12  inches 
thick,  for  enclosing  walls,  instead  of  brick,  the 
exposed  steel  frame  being  protected  by  terra 
cotta  slabs  about  an  inch  thick.  Such  a  building 
would  burn  more  quickly  than  an  ordinary 
wooden  joisted  building  properly  constructed. 
The  Leonard  Building,  in  Detroit,  destroyed  by 
fire  October  7th,  1897,  was  an  example  of  the 
great  danger  of  this  style  of  construction.  It  was 
ten  stories  high,  and  as  fast  as  the  columns  or 
wall  girders  were  warped  by  the  heat  the  tiling 
dropped  out  like  loose  bricks,  leaving  the  entire 
structure  after  the  fire  a  ragged  cage-work  of  iron 


HOW   TO    BUILD    FIREPROOF.  29 

with  very  little  of  the  tiling  on  the  enclosing 
walls  and  none  of  the  floors  intact.  The  contents 
were,  of  course,  totally  destroyed. 

PIERS,  BOND  STONES,   ETC. 

Bond  stones  should  not  be  allowed  in  piers 
vital  to  the  building  or  carrying  great  weights, 
especially  in  the  cellar  or  basement.*  Stone 
yields  readily  and  quickly  to  the  combined 
eifects  of  water  and  heat  and,  disintegrating  at 
its  edges,  gradually  releases  the  bricks  above  it, 
so  as,  in  time,  to  destroy  the  integrity  of  the  pier. 
Bond  stones  are  employed  by  the  mason  to  steady 
his  work.  A  green  brick  pier  while  being  laid  is 
frequently  unsteady,  and  a  bond  stone  enables 
him  to  progress  with  his  work  by  steadying  all 
below  it  so  as  to  receive  new  courses  of  brick.  In 
all  cases  the  bond  should  be  a  cast-iron  plate. 
If  the  plate  should  be  cast  with  holes  through  it 
about  1-J  inches  in  diameter,  so  that  the  mortar 
and  cement  can  thoroughly  incorporate  the  plate 
with  the  masonry  above  and  below,  it  would  be 
an  improvement.  Wrought  iron  is  liable  to  rust 
and  should  not  be  used.  Where  bond  stones  are 
used  in  the  outer  walls  of  buildings  they  are  less 
objectionable,  but  for  inside  piers  they  are  so 
dangerous  that  they  ought  to  be  prohibited  by 
law.  Strangely  enough,  only  stone  for  bonds  was 
formerly  required  by  the  New  York  building 
law,  and  such  was  the  opposition  of  the  stone  men 

*See  Cammeyer  Building  fire,  pages  86  and  87. 


30  HOW   TO   BUILD    FIREPROOF. 

to  the  prohibition  of  bond  stones  altogether,  (when 
later  it  was  proposed,)  that  a  compromise  was 
reached  allowing  the  use  of  cast-iron  bonds  as  an 
alternative  of  stone  bonds — an  option  seldom 
availed  of  by  architects,  builders  or  owners,  how- 
ever, and  construed  generally  by  the  public  to 
mean  that  either  is  good  enough. 

STONE    PILLARS. 

It  not  unfrequently  happens  that  a  building 
of  otherwise  admirable  construction  has  its  weak- 
est point  in  the  cellar,  where  stone  pillars  form 
the  support  for  the  entire  line  of  columns  through 
the  building.  In  case  of  fire  and  the  application 
of  water  these  stone  pillars,  no  matter  how  sub- 
stantial, whether  monoliths  or  stone  blocks,  will 
disintegrate  and  bring  down  the  entire  structure. 
After  the  great  Boston  fire,  granite  piers  were 
shoveled  up  and  carted  away  like  so  much  sand. 
It  is  quite  a  common  practice,  and  a  most  dan- 
gerous one,  to  employ  single  stone  columns,  often 
of  polished  granite,  to  support  the  centre  of  a 
long  stone  lintel  carrying  the  wall  over  an  orna- 
mental entrance.  Such  a  column  would  surely 
yield  to  the  effect  of  fire  and  water  and  perhaps 
let  down  the  entire  front.  In  almost  every  city 
such  faulty  architecture  may  be  observed. 

The  American  Exchange  Bank,  on  Broadway,  N.  Y.,  re- 
cently torn  down  to  give  place  to  a  modern,  fireproof  structure, 
had  a  ceiling  of  carved  stone  in  large  squares,  supported  on  the 
flanges  of  iron  beams.  This  would  have  yielded  quickly  to  the 
heat  of  fire  and  water,  endangering  the  lives  of  firemen  or  em- 
ployes. The  building  was  claimed  to  be  fireproof  and  illustrates 
prevailing  ignorance  as  to  the  danger  of  stone  as  a  building 
material  in  a  city  noted  for  its  knowledge  of  safe  construction. 


HOW    TO    BUILD    FIREPROOF.  31 

The  writer  passes  every  day  a  costly  structure 
in  New  York  whose  corner  is  supported  by  a 
granite  monolith  column  of  this  kind.  If  stone 
columns  are  desired  for  architectural  effect 
they  should,  wherever  they  carry  heavy  loads, 
contain  a  centre  column  of  cast-iron  of  sufficient 
carrying  capacity  to  support  the  superimposed 
weight. 

CAST-IRON   VERTICAL    SUPPORTS. 

The  vertical  supports,  columns,  pillars,  etc.,  as 
already  stated,  should  be  of  cast-iron,  cylindrical 
in  form,  of  liberal  thickness,  especially  in  the 
lower  stories,  thoroughly  tested  as  to  sand  holes, 
thin  places,  from  " floating  cores,"  etc.  Cast- 
iron  columns  should  be  round,  and  not  square. 
In  the  former  shape  there  is  less  likelihood  of  de- 
fects in  casting,  sand  holes,  etc.,  which  prevent 
uniform  sound  thickness  of  shell.  The  columns 
should  be  planed  to  smooth  bearings,  so  that  the 
entire  system  from  the  foundation  to  the  roof, 
may  be  securely  bolted  together  and  form  a 
continuous  line  with  joints  for  expansion  and 
without  any  inequalities  of  bearings.  Under  no 
circumstances  should  wedges  or  "shims"*  be 
allowed.  This  most  important  matter  is  often 
neglected.  The  flanges  and  corbel  brackets  for 
supporting  beams  should  be  cast  in  one  piece 
with  the  column  and  not  depend  upon  rivets  or 
bolts.  Rivets,  aside  from  the  danger  of  shearing 

*" Shims"  are  pieces  of  slate  or  iron  inserted  to  secure  a 
true  vertical  where  the  two  surfaces  have  not  been  properly 
leveled  or  planed. 


BRAft^ 

OF  THE 


32  HOW   TO   BUILD    FIREPROOF. 

strains,  are  almost  certain  to  rust  to  the  point  of 
danger.  The  beams  should  be  bolted  to  lugs  on 
the  columns,  however,  as  a  tie  between  the  side 
walls,  holding  the  entire  structure  firmly  and 
consistently  together  as  one  rigid  whole  and  yet 
with  play  for  expansion. 

Col.  Geo.  B.  Post  of  New  York  has  devised  a 
form  of  cast-iron  cage  construction  consisting  of 
pillars  and  floor  beams  of  the  Hodgkinson  pattern 
the  members  of  which  lock  into  each  other, 
without  the  use  of  bolts  or  rivets,  forming  a 
very  rigid  construction  and  saving  the  cost  of 
mechanics  for  bolt  and  rivet  work.  While  I  have 
not  had  an  opportunity  to  examine  it,  I  have 
great  faith  in  his  judgment ;  my  impression,  from 
his  description  of  it,  is  that  it  would  be  very  rigid 
construction  and  admirably  adapted  to  ware- 
houses six  and  seven  stories  high.  Above  this 
height  merchandise  should  not  be  stored  in  any 
kind  of  a  building. 

The  factors  of  safety,  in  computing  strains, 
should  not  be  less  than  those  prescribed  by  the 
standard  modern  authorities.  It  is  better  to  be 
sure  than  sorry. 

All  iron  work,  columns  and  pillars,  beams  and 

girders,  should  be  fireproof ed,  i.  e.,  covered  with 

at  least  four  inches  of  incombus- 

Fireproofing      tible  material    terra  cotta  Qr  brick, 
iron  members 

At  the  floor,  and  for  a  height  of 
four  feet  in  mercantile  buildings,  a  metal  guard 
should  be  provided  to  prevent  the  column  from 


HOW   TO    BUILD    FIREPROOF.  33    . 

being  stripped  by  collisions  with  rolling  trucks 
for  moving  merchandise.  It  •light  to  be  un- 
necessary to  suggest  that  wooden  lagging  should, 
under  no  circumstances,  be  used  to  protect  the 
iron,  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  in  one  of  the 
largest  and  most  costly  dry-goods  stores  in  New 
York,  the  fireproof  covering  of  the  iron  columns, 
which  had  been  seriously  damaged  by  trucks,  was 
being  systematically  removed  in  order  to  substi- 
tute wooden  lagging,  when  the  fault  was,  for- 
tunately, detected  by  an  inspector  of  the  under- 
writers. Thick  hardwood  cleats  showing  the 
plaster  behind  might  answer  as  fenders  or  guards. 
Four  inches  of  good  brickwork  is  a  good  covering, 
but  porous  terra  cotta  or  even  wire  lath  and  plaster 
may  prove  effective.  Where  wire  lath  and  plaster 
is  used  the  column  should  first  be  wrapped  with  a 
quarter- inch  thickness  of  asbestos  bound  with 
wire.  This  would  prove  reliable  and  inexpensive. 
It  is  a  fact,  showing  how  common  is  the  neglect 
to  cover  iron  with  non-conducting  material,  that 
in  the  New  York  State  Capitol,  in  the  library, 
is  a  large  plate  girder  entirely  exposed.  This 
girder  supports  the  ceiling  beams,  and  there  is 
enough  combustible  material  in  the  oak  book- 
cases, furniture  and  flooring  to  wreck  this  por- 
tion of  the  building  by  expansion  in  case  of 
their  combustion.  The  ceiling  of  the  Senate 
chamber  is  of  heavy  hard  wood  attached  to  the 
soffits  of  the  iron  beams,  and  they  would  if  ignited, 
probably  warp  and  expand  the  beams  to  a  dan- 


34  HOW   TO    BUILD    FIREPROOF. 

gerous  point.  The  New  York  Building  Law  was 
enacted  in  this  building. 

A  notable  instance  showing  the  necessity  of 
protecting  ironwork  with  incombustible  material, 
and  the  danger  of  expansion  in  long  lines  of  iron 
girders  or  beams  was  that  of  the  destruction  of  a 
fireproof  spinning  mill  at  Burnley,  England,  re- 
cently. This  mill  was  210  feet  long  by  120  feet 
wide.  Six  cast-iron  girders  of  the  Hodgkinson 
type,  each  20  feet  long,  spanned  the  120  feet 
width,  being  bolted  to  cast-iron  columns  and 
carrying,  in  turn,  cross  girders  of  wrought  iron. 
The  expansion  of  these  120-foot  girders  (they 
were  unprotected)  resulted  in  the  disruption  of 
the  floor  and  the  destruction  of  the  mill.  The 
cast-iron  columns,  being  unprotected,  collapsed 
under  fire  and  water.  The  floors  were  10'  6"  bays. 
As  already  stated,  beams  should  not  be  spaced 
over  five  feet  on  centres.  Wider  spacing  results 
in  weak  arches,  liable  to  be  buckled  out  by  heat 
or  punched  through  by  the  falling  of  safes  or  of 
other  heavy  articles  from  upper  floors. 

The  probability  is  that  if  the  20-foot  girders  in 
this  building  had  been  arranged  with  provision 
for  expansion,  and  all  the  ironwork  had  been 
thoroughly  protected  with  fireproof  material, 
little  damage  would  have  been  done.  The  effect 
would  have  been  more  rapid  if  the  floors  had  been 
loaded  with  combustible  merchandise.  There 
was  little  wood  to  burn  in  the  contents  of  the 


HOW    TO    BUILD    FIKEPEOOF.  35 

spinning  mill,  and  yet  the  destruction  was 
thorough.  Such  buildings  with  uncovered  iron 
work  are  more  dangerous  than  those  of  heavy 
wood  construction,  in  which  the  timbers  are 
twelve  inches  in  diameter.  A  properly  construc- 
ted building  with  protected  iron,  however,  is,  of 
course,  superior  to  any  other  form  of  building. 
Experienced  firemen  are  afraid  to  enter  buildings 
supported  by  iron  columns  unless  they  are  thor- 
oughly fireproofed,  as  they  are  liable  to  snap 
without  warning  under  the  influence  of  fire  and 
water,  whereas  wooden  posts  burn  slowly  and 
give  notice  of  collapse.  They  will  stand  a  severe 
fire  without  being  charred  for  more  than  two 
inches  of  their  surface. 

BEAMS  AND  GIRDERS. 

In  mercantile  buildings  and  factories,  beams, 
as  already  stated,  ought  not  to  be  spaced  more 
than  five  feet  apart,  no  matter  what  kind  of  arch 
is  employed ;  and  while  many  experts  claim  that 
a  heavy  iron  I-beam,  thoroughly  encased  in  fire- 
proof material  on  three  sides  and  having  only  its 
soffit  or  underside  exposed,  would  not  be  ex- 
panded enough  by  the  heat  of  a  fire  to  cause  its 
collapse,  it  is  best  to  take  no  chances  but  to  pro- 
tect the  underside  with  fireproof  material,  which 
can  be  cheaply  applied  with  wire  lath  and  plaster 
or  by  having  the  skewbacks  of  the  terra  cotta  floor 
fillings  extend  below  the  soffit  or  bottom  flange  of 


36  HOW   TO    BUILD    FIREPROOF. 

the  beam,  and  made  with  lips  for  protecting  the 
iron. 

TIE-RODS. 

It  is  a  mistake,  in  my  judgment,  to  dispense 
with  tie-rods,  even  with  the  kinds  of  arches 
which  employ  wire  cables  or  other  metal  tie3. 
The  claim  is  made  that  these  act  as  tie-rods,  but 
it  should  be  remembered  that  they  cannot  be  re- 
lied on  during  construction,  when  derricks  for 
hoisting  iron  beams  and  other  materials  are 
resting  on  the  girders.  Dangerous  lateral  move- 
ments and  twistings  of  the  structure  may  be  the 
result  of  want  of  rigidity  which,  at  this  stage, 
can  only  be  secured  by  tie-rods. 

MATERIAL  FOR  ARCHES  BETWEEN  BEAMS. 

It  is  my  opinion — but  there  are  many  who  en- 
tertain a  different  one — that  the  old-fashioned 
brick  arch  is  the  most  reliable  for  resisting  fire ; 
that  next  to  this  in  safety  stands  the  porous, 
terra  cotta,  segmental  arch,  with  end  construction, 
i.  e.,  the  blocks  or  separate  pieces  placed  end  to 
end  between  the  beams,  instead  of  side  by  side  in 
what  is  known  as  "side  construction."  This  is 
said  to  be  stronger  than  side  construction.  It  is 
claimed  by  many  experts  that  porous  terra  cotta 
is  a  better  non-conductor  than  brick  on  account 
of  its  interior  air  spaces.  The  arch  should  not  be 
less  than  four  inches  thick,  having  a  rise  of  at 
least  li  inches  to  each  foot  of  span  between  the 


HOW   TO    BUILD    FIKEPKOOF.  37 

beams,  and  there  should  be  a  covering  of  good 
Portland  cement  and  gravel  concrete  over  this 
to  ensure  a  waterproof  floor.  Cinder  filling  will 
burn — crushed  slag  from  blast  furnaces  is  better 
but  the  Portland  cement  concrete  should  not  be 
omitted  for  water-proofing  purposes. 

There  are  many  patent  floor  arches  for  filling 
between  I-beams  which  have  great  merit  when 
properly  put  in,  but  I  doubt  if  any  of  them  are 
equal  to  the  two  I  have  named,  and  it  should 
always  be  borne  in  mind  that  when  employed 
they  should  be  inserted  with  the  same  care  with 
which  they  are  prepared  for  tests.  This  is  almost 
equally  true,  however,  as  regards  brick  and  burnt 
clay  arches,  also.  There  is  less  likelihood  of  poor 
installation  work,  however,  with  brick  arches  or 
segmental  arches  of  porous  terra  cotta  or  burnt 
clay.  Arches  should  be  laid  in  cement  not  lime 
mortar.  They  should  not  be  laid  in  ^freezing 
weather,  and  where  concrete  is  used  the  broken 
stone  or  gravel  should  be  carefully  washed  and 
the  cement  should  be  of  the  best  quality.  Some 
of  the  better  qualities  of  patent  floors  are  the  fol- 
lowing: Fawcett,  Guastavino,  Rapp  (which 
should  be  segmental  shape)  Columbian,  Metro- 
politan, Roebling,  Manhattan  or  Expanded  Metal, 
etc.  These  floors  are  fully  illustrated  in  most  of 
the  text  books  on  construction.  In  all  of  them, 
I  repeat,  the  spacing  of  beams  should  not  exceed 
five  feet. 


38  HOW    TO    BUILD    FIKEPEOOF. 

A  recent  writer  says  : 

"The  question  of  fire-proof  material  is  really  a  very  simple 
one,  and  any  one  who  is  so  disposed  can  make  the  most  con- 
vincing sort  of  test  by  taking  a  small  fragment  of  ordinary  porous 
terra-cotta  and  a  small  fragment  of  the  cinders  concrete  which  is 
usually  employed  for  concrete  constructions,  and  holding  a  piece 
jf  each  in  his  hands,  expose  the  other  end  to  the  flame  of  a  blow- 
pipe. He  will  drop  the  piece  of  concrete  first.  Some  time  after- 
wards he  will  have  to  drop  the  terra  cotta.  If  while  hot  they  are 
dropped  directly  into  a  bucket  of  water,  the  most  casual  inspec- 
tion will  satisfy  any  one  that  what  is  left  of  the  concrete  is  hardly 
the  material  that  is  most  desired  for  the  protection  of  a  building. 
Concrete  is  cheap,  terra-cotta  is  not ;  therein  lies  the  secret  of  the 
possibilities  of  the  use  of  the  former  material. 

Another  point.  If  terra-cotta  arch  blocks  are  set  in  place 
with  only  ordinary  care,  they  can  be  depended  upon  to  serve 
their  purpose.  Concrete,  on  the  other  hand,  has  to  be  mixed 
most  carefully  in  order  to  secure  a  uniform  and  reliable  product. 
As,  in  a  large  building,  the  bulk  of  the  work  is  of  necessity  en- 
trusted to  laborers  who  can  be  depended  upon  not  to  think  or  be 
careful,  the  chances  are  decidedly  against  a  satisfactory  mixture 
of  concrete,  thereby  largely  increasing  the  odds  in  favor  of  terra- 
cotta." 

The  air  spaces  in  porous  terra  cotta  account  for 
its  being  so  good  a  non-conductor.  They  are  se- 
cured by  mixing  sawdust  with  the  moist  clay  be- 
fore burning,  When  the  material  is  burned  the 
sawdust  is  consumed,  leaving  pores  in  the  baked 
material. 

I  do  not  agree  with  the  writer  quoted  above  in 
his  sweeping  condemnation  of  concrete  floors  for 
buildings  not  over  one  hundred  feet  high — and 
this  should  be  the  limit  of  all  structures  to  con- 
tain merchandise,  which  should  never  be  elevated 
to  a  greater  height  above  the  grade,  owing  to  the 


HOW    TO    BUILD    FIREPROOF.  39 

inability  of  fire  departments  to  throw  water  effec- 
tively to  these  heights — I  shonld  regard  snch 
floors,  if  properly  laid,  in  non-freezing  weather, 
as  good  fire-stops  for  buildings  one  hundred  feet 
high  and  under. 

WATERPROOF    FLOORS. 

It  is  of  great  importance  that  the  floors  of  all 
buildings  should  be  waterproof,  in  order  that  the 
volume  of  water  thrown  by  the  fire  department 
to  extinguish  a  fire  may  be  carried  off  without 
injury  to  merchandise  on  the  floors  below.  Neg- 
lect of  these  precautions  is  criminal  in  view  of 
their  simplicity  and  inexpensiveness. 

After  the  arches  have  been  set  between  the 
I-beams  they  should  be  covered,  for  at  least  a 
thickness  of  one  inch,  with  the  best  Portland  ce- 
ment concrete,  carefully  laid,  so  that  all  water 
will  run  to  the  sides  of  the  building  and  be  car- 
ried off  by  water  vents  or  scuppers,  which  may 
be  arranged  with  pipes  through  the  walls  having 
a  check- valve  which  would  prevent  the  influx  of 
cold  air  and  yet  admit  of  the  outflow  of  water. 

All  ducts  for  carrying  steam,  gas  and  other 
pipes  and  electric  conduits  should  be  protected 
with  a  metal  sleeve  going  above  the  surface  of  the 
floor,  and  the  space  between  and  around  the 
pipes  should  be  filled  in  closely  with  mineral 
wool,  asbestos  or  some  other  expansive  and  fire- 
proof material  to  cut  off  drafts  and  flame. 


40  HOW    TO    BUILD    FIREPROOF. 

FLOOR  SURFACES. 

Floor  boards  should  be  dispensed  with,  if  pos- 
sible, (always  above  125  feet  high)  and  asphalt 
or  concrete  employed  instead.  It  is  not  popular 
in  office  buildings,  however,  to  dispense  with 
wooden  floors.  Wherever  used  they  should  be  so 
laid,  especially  in  mercantile  or  manufacturing 
buildings,  as  to  leave  no  air  space  to  supply  a 
passage  for  flame  and  to  form  a  harborage  for 
rats  arid  mice,  to  which  these  vermin  can  carry 
matches,  oily  waste  or  other  combustible  mater- 
ial, to  be  ignited  by  steam  pipes  or  by  spon- 
taneous combustion. 

FIRE-PROOFING   WOOD. 

Yarious  processes,  "electric,"  so-called,  and 
otherwise,  have  been  patented  for  fireproofing 
wood.  They  undoubtedly  increase  the  fire- 
resisting  properties  of  wood  for  interior  trim, 
window  casings,  etc.  Whether  or  not  they  im- 
pair the  durability  of  wood  is  a  matter  as  to 
which  I  am  not  yet  informed  and  I  doubt  if  suf- 
ficient time  has  elapsed  for  a  proper  test.  The 
United  States  Navy  has  made  trials  of  fireproof 
woodwork — with  what  success  I  am  not  informed. 

VENTILATING    AND    LIGHT    SHAFTS, 
DUMB-WAITER    SHAFTS,  ETC. 

The  enclosures  of  all  ventilating  shafts,  for 
water-closets,  etc.,  light-shafts  and  dumb-waiter 
shafts  should  be  constructed  in  the  same  sub- 
stantial manner,  as  freight  elevator  shafts.  It  is 


HOW   TO    BUILD    FIREPROOF.  41 

a  mistake  to  use  thin  plaster  board  or  plaster 
with  dove-tailed,  or  other  metal,  lath,  etc.  No  en- 
closure should  be  relied  upon  less  than  four  inches 
in  thickness,  well  braced  with  angle-iron,  but 
brick  walls  are  best,  especially  in  buildings  over 
60  feet  high.  The  lights  of  shafts  should  be  of 
wire  glass,  set  in  metal  framework,  and  venti- 
lators should  have  metal  louvers  arranged  to 
secure  ventilation  but  not  to  increase  a  draft. 
Slats  should  be  riveted,  not  soldered,  to  metal 
framework,  and  the  metal  framework  should 
flange  well  over  the  fireproof  material  of  shaft  on 
both  sides.  It  is  possible  to  finish  tin-covered 
fireproof  doors  with  wooden  trim  so  as  to  be 
ornamental,  with  bead  panel- work,  etc. 

WELL-HOLES. 

These  should  be  avoided  if  the  building  is  to 
be  regarded  as  fireproof.  The  Home  Building 
had  one  48'x22'.  It  is  almost  impossible  to  con- 
trol a  fire  starting  in  the  lower  floors  where  a 
well-hole  opens  through  those  above.  Luxfer 
prisms  are  now  used  to  secure  light  from  side 
windows  it  is  claimed  with  great  success. 

A  recent  fire  test  of  the  Luxfer  Prism,  in 
Chicago,  (March,  1898)  is  stated  to  have  been 
satisfactory  to  Fire  Marshal  Swenie,  as  showing 
that  these  prisms  aiford  material  protection  from 
the  heat  of  a  neighboring  fire  in  an  exposing 
building,  and  that  to  some  extent  they  are  sub- 
stitutes for  iron  shutters. 


42  HOW   TO   BUILD    FIREPROOF. 

STAIRCASES,  ELEVATORS,   ETC. 

These  should  be  in  hallways  cut  off  from  the 
rooms  at  each  story  by  fire  walls  and  doors,  to 
prevent  drafts.  It  is  not  so  important,  and  is  not 
so  practicable,  in  the  case  of  office  and  hotel 
buildings,  as  in  the  case  of  mercantile  and  manu- 
facturing buildings ;  but  it  is  advisable,  even  in 
office  buildings,  to  have  the  staircases,  elevators, 
etc.,  in  a  separate  hallway,  the  division  walls  of 
which  should  extend  through  and  above  the  roof 
and  any  skylights  should  be  covered  with  glass 
not  less  than  i-inch  thick. 

In  all  buildings  where  the  staircase  is  not 
thoroughly  and  effectually  cut  off  from  each 
floor,  with  provision  for  ventilating  and  carrying 
off  smoke,  which  might,  otherwise,  smother  per- 
sons attempting  to  escape,  there  should  be  two 
staircases,  one  at  each  end  of  the  building.  Ten 
persons  are  smothered  to  death  for  every  one 
actually  burned. 

SKY-LIGHTS. 

It  is  contended  by  some  that  sky-lights  should 
oe  of  thin  glass  so  that  they  will  break  easily  and 
permit  the  escape  of  smoke  and  gas.  Smoke  is 
ignitible  and,  when  it  accumulates  in  a  building, 
often  spreads  the  fire  from  story  to  story  or  blows 
out  the  walls  by  the  explosion  of  its  gases.  But 
while  thin  skylights  are  contended  for  by  many 
expert  firemen,  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  that 


HOW    TO    BUILD    FIREPROOF.  48 

nothing  so  facilitates  the  spread  of  fire  as  a  draft, 
and  it  would  be  better  to  have  the  skylights 
adjusted  with  appliances  for  opening  them,  so 
ihat  when  the  firemen  arrive  on  the  ground,  and 
not  before,  they  may  be  adjusted  to  permit  the  es- 
cape of  smoke  and  allow  the  firemen  to  enter  the 
building  to  see  where  to  work  to  the  best  advan- 
tage. Unless  wire  glass  is  used,  a  network  of 
wire  should  be  above  the  glass  to  guard  it  against 
flying  embers  and  another  should  be  suspended 
beneath  the  skylights  so  that  when  the  glass 
cracks  and  breaks  with  the  heat  it  will  not  injure 
the  firemen  below. 

ROOFS. 

These  should  be  of  brick  or  tile  on  all  high 
buildings,   the  roof  beams  being 
of    iron    and,    where    tanks    are          Roofs 
supported,   of   sufficient  strength 
to  carry  many  times  the  actual  probable  weight 
of  the  water  and  the  containing  tank  itself. 

Slate  roofs,  on  very  high  buildings,  especially 
on  street  fronts,  are  objectionable 
as,    in    case    of    fire,    the    slates      Slate  roofs 
would   crack   and,  falling  to  the 
street,  injure  the  firemen.     A  flat  roof  of  brick- 
tile  is  better  than  any  other. 

All  water  on  roofs  from  rain  or  melting  snow 
should  be  drained  from  the  front  or  sides  to 
leaders,  so  as  to  avoid  drip  points,  from  which 


44  HOW    TO    BUILD    FIREPROOF. 

icicles  could  be  formed.  Too  little  attention  is 
paid  to  the  great  danger  of  injury  to  pedestrians 
from  falling  snow  or  icicles  on  very  high  build- 
ings. This  may  not  be  a  suggestion  strictly  ger- 
main  to  this  article,  but  it  is  a  matter  so  often 
overlooked  as  to  warrant  its  being  referred  to  in 
an  article  intended  to  deal  more  or  less  thor- 
oughly with  the  subject  of  fireproof  buildings. 

BOILER    ROOM. 

It  is  essential  to  the  comfort  of  those  on  the 
first  floor  of  a  building  that  precautions  should 
be  taken  to  cut  off  the  heat  from  the  battery  of 
boilers  in  the  summer  season,  and  this  important 
matter  is  not  infrequently  overlooked. 

If  the  boilers  are  to  be  in  the  cellar  or  base- 
ment the  ceiling  should  be  high  and  should  be 
double,  with  a  well  defined  air  space  between  the 
two.  A  ventilator  of  proper  size  to  carry  off  the 
heat  accumulating  near  the  top  should  be  pro- 
vided to  the  roof. 

There  are  so  many  admirable  non-conducting 
coverings  for  heating  steam  pipes,  etc.,  that  it  is 
probably  unnecessary  to  suggest  anything  on 
this  head.  Indeed,  the  whole  subject  has  little 
to  do  with  the  question  of  a  fireproof  building, 
but  may,  without  impropriety,  be  touched  upon 
in  a  treatise  intended  to  prevent  oversights  of 
all  kinds. 


HOW    TO    BUILD    FIREPROOF.  45 

ELECTRIC    LIGHT    INSTALLATION, 
DYNAMO    ROOM,   ETC. 

The  electric  light  installation  of  a  large  fire- 
proof building  is  an  important  and  complicated 
matter.  To  insure  safety,  reference  should  be 
had  to  the  rules  of  the  National  Board  of  Fire 
Underwriters,  which  can  be  obtained,  without 
charge,  from  the  nearest  local  board  of  under- 
writers. 

The  switchboard  should  be  of  incombustible 
material,  and  no  steam,  water  or  sprinkler  pipes 
should  pass  over  or  near  it  where,  in  case  of  a 
bursting  pipe,  water  could  reach  the  switchboard 
and  cause  disaster.  This  is  an  important  matter 
almost  universally  overlooked. 

An  admirable  floor  for  a  dynamo-room  is  one 
of  deck-glass,  f  inches  thick,  on  a  wooden  (not 
iron)  frame.  It  will  insure  that  the  attendant 
upon  the  dynamos  will  be,  at  all  times,  effectually 
insulated.  Such  a  floor  will  not  become  soaked 
with  oil,  as  would  a  wooden  floor,  and  can  easily 
be  kept  clean.  A  strip  of  rubber  floor  carpet 
stretched  over  it  will  prevent  slipping.  The 
Continental  Insurance  Company  has,  probably, 
the  only  floor  of  this  kind  in  the  country,  in  its 
large  fireproof  office  building  on  Cedar  Street, 
New  York. 

CHIMNEYS    AND    FIREPLACES. 

Nothing  tends  more  to  the  discomfort  of  the 
occupants  of  a  building  than  smoky  fireplaces, 


46  HOW   TO    BUILD    FIREPROOF. 

whereas,  on  the  contrary,  an  open  fireplace,  with 
a  good  draft,  is  a  great  comfort. 

Unfortunately,  the  subject  of  fireplaces  and 
chimneys  is  frequently  neglected  by  those  archi- 
tects who  pay  more  attention  to  artistic  effects 
than  to  practical  provisions  which  insure  comfort. 

The  accompanying  diagram  illustrates  how  a 
fireplace  and  flue  should  be  constructed  to  insure 
a  good  draft.  It  will  be  observed  that  the  back 
of  the  fireplace  is  inclined  forward,  commencing 
at  a  point  six  courses  of  brick  from  the  bottom, 
so  as  to  contract  the  throat  of  the  flue ;  a  square 
shelf  being  left,  against  which  downward  cur- 
rents of  smoke  would  strike  and  rebound,  to  re- 
turn up  the  flue.  It  is  possible  and  sometimes 
necessary  to  have  a  cast-iron  plate  resting  on 
this  shelf,  which  can  be  drawn  forward,  as 
occasion  may  require,  to  contract  the  throat  of 
the  flue,  the  capacity  of  which  should  correspond 
somewhat  with  the  size  of  the  fireplace  opening, 
to  the  extent  of  having  an  area  about  one- 
eleventh  of  the  latter. 

Flues  for  fireplaces  burning  wood  should  not 
be  less  than  8"xl2"  and  should  be  lined  with  flue 
tile,  which  will  insure  a  smooth  flue  and  also 
tend  to  the  safety  of  the  building.  The  height 
of  the  fireplace  should,  as  a  rule,  not  exceed  25 
inches,  and  the  front  opening  should  be  sup- 
ported by  two  iron  bars  i"x2, "  nine  inches  longer 
than  the  width  of  the  opening. 


HOW   TO    BUILD   A    CHIMNEY. 


SECTION  OF  CHIMNEY  SHOWING  TRIMMER  ARCH  UNDER  HEARTH, 

PROPER  CONSTRUCTION  OF  FIRE  PLACE,  FLUE  AND 

FLUE  LINING,  ASH  CHUTE,  ETC. 


48  HOW   TO    BUILD    FIREPROOF. 

COMMUNICATIONS    BETWEEN    ADJOINING 
BUILDINGS. 

It  is  sometimes  necessary  to  have  communi- 
cations between  adjoining  buildings  by  doors  in 
the  fire  walls  and  it  is  not  always  convenient,  when 
changing  merchandise  from  one  room  to  another, 
to  have  fireproof  doors  closed  during  working 
hours.  It  is  possible  to  have  the  fireproof  doors 
run  upon  trolleys  on  an  inclined  track  so  as  to 
close  by  the  force  of  gravity  and  held  open  by 
fusible  metal  latches  or  links  which  would  re- 
lease them  when  melted  by  the  rising  tempera- 
ture of  a  fire.  It  has  occurred  to  me  that  this 
difficulty  may,  also,  be  met  by  erecting  between 
two  adjoining  buildings  a  separating  fireproof 
hallway  of  brick,  which  can  be  utilized  for  con- 
taining staircases  and  elevators  and  for  sup- 
porting the  water  tanks  of  automatic  sprinklers. 
The  doors  which  open  into  this  hallway  should 
not  be  opposite  each  other,  but  at  opposite  ends 
of  it,  so  that  fire  in  one  of  the  buildings  passing 
through  the  door  would  come  against  a  blank 
wall  opposite.  Even  if  the  fireproof  doors  to 
these  openings  should  happen  to  be  open  at  the 
time  of  a  fire  in  one  of  the  two  buildings,  it  is  im- 
probable that  it  would  find  access  to  the  other. 

The  floors  should  be  both  fire  and  waterproof, 
slightly  lower  than  those  of  the  two  separated 
buildings,  and  with  water  vents  or  " scuppers" 


HOW    TO    BUILD    FIREPROOF.  49 

for  carrying  off  surplus  water  thrown  by  a  fire 
department.  Indeed  it  is  well  to  have  "scup- 
pers "  on  all  floors  of  every  building. 

The  walls  of  this  separating  hallway  or  vesti- 
bule should  rise  four  feet  higher  than  the  roofs 
of  the  two  buildings  and,  if  there  are  window  or 
door  openings  near  it,  its  walls  should  project 
beyond  the  line  of  enclosing  walls  at  least  one 
foot. 

It  ought  to  be  unnecessary  to  state  that  there 
should  be  no  combustible  material  whatever  in 
this  separating  hallway,  and  that  the  staircaset 
elevators,  etc.,  should  be  of  metal  and  fireproof. 

Indeed  such  a  hallway  as  this  could  be  relied 
upon  to  separate  wooden  buildings.  It  should, 
however,  for  that  purpose,  be  at 
least  ten  feet  higher  than  the  peak 
of  their  roofs  and  should  extend 
four  feet  beyond  their  front  and  rear  lines.  It  is 
probable  that  the  extensive  frame  dairy  buildings 
of  ex-vice-president  Morton  at  Ellerslie,  which 
burned  several  years  ago,  might  have  been  saved 
by  this  simple  precaution. 

The  following  diagrams  fully  illustrate  the 
idea. 


FIRE  PROOF  DOOR 


I 


FIRE  PROOF  DOOR 


SEPARATING  FIRE-STOP  HALLWAY,  GROUND  PLAN. 

Scale  £  inch  to  foot. 


SEPARATING  FIRE-STOP  HALLWAY— ELEVATION  OF 
UPPER  STORY  AND  ROOF  WITH  WATER  TANK. 

Scale      inch  to  foot. 


52  HOW    TO    BUILD    FIREPROOF. 

Where  it  is  not  necessary  to  transfer  merchan- 
dise from  one  building  to  another,  but  only 

requisite  to  have  a  passageway  for 
staircases  employees,  this  may  be  arranged 

by  an  iron  balcony,  like  a  fire 
escape,  cutting  down  the  window  on  each  side 
of  the  separating  wall  for  a  door,  so  that  com- 
munication can  be  had  by  the  balcony.  The 
openings  should  have  fireproof  doors.  This 
would  be  practically  safe.  It  might,  with  iron 
ladders,  be  utilized  as  a  fire  escape,  and  so  prove 
of  great  advantage  to  firemen  in  fighting  a  fire, 
who  could  hold  a  hose  nozzle  at  the  different 
windows  with  perfect  safety  to  the  last  moment. 
It  is  practicable,  indeed,  to  have  iron  stairways 
with  roofed  balconies  entirely  outside  of  storage 
stores  so  that  the  floors  do  not  communicate. 
There  is  a  number  of  these  in  Philadelphia. 

WATER   TANK. 

The  water  tank,  as  already  stated,  should  be 
supported  on  protected  iron  I-beams,  resting  on 
the  brick  walls,  with  cast-iron  templates,  so  that 
the  tank  cannot  fall,  break  down  the  staircases 
and  wreck  the  building  in  case  of  fire. 

It  is  important  always  to  locate  tanks  so  that 
they  will  not  be  over  stairways  or  elevators  and 
endanger  them  in  case  the  supports  give  way. 
With  a  fireproof  hallway  of  the  kind  recom- 
mended, containing  no  combustible  material 


HOW   TO    BUILD    FIREPROOF.  53 

whatever,  the  tanks  being  supported  by  iron 
I-beams  resting  on  the  brick  walls,  this  would 
not  be  an  important  matter,  but  in  all  other 
cases  water  tanks  should  be  planned  so  as  not  to 
endanger  staircases,  and  the  supporting  iron 
beams  should  be  fireproof ed,  that  is,  covered  with 
fireproof  material. 

FIREPROOF   DOORS    AND    SHUTTERS. 

These  should  not  be  of  iron,  but  of  wood  cov- 
ered with  tin.  Solid  iron  shutters  or  doors  are 
not  reliable.  Iron  doors  yield  readily  to  flame, 
resulting  sometimes  in  their  warping  open  when 
exposed  to  fire  in  an  adjoining  building,  ex- 
posing the  one  they  are  intended  to  protect  to 
the  full  effect  of  the  flames. 

Where  window  openings  are  protected  by  iron 
shutters  on  rear  courts  they  are  almost  certain  to 
be  warped  open  by  fire  in  exposing  buildings  and 
cannot  be  relied  upon.  The  tin  covered  wood 
shutters  alone  are  reliable.  There  is  no  recorded 
instance  in  which  a  solid  iron  door  exposed  to  the 
full  effect  of  fire  in  an  adjoining  building  has 
protected  the  opening,  whereas  there  is,  on  the 
other  hand,  no  recorded  instance  in  which  the 
i 'Underwriter's"  door  has  failed  to  serve  its 
purpose — two  important  facts  which  are  signifi- 
cant and  ought  to  settle  the  question. 

The  ''Underwriter's"  door  is  constructed  of 
ordinary  white  pine  lumber,  free  from  knots,  of 


54  HOW    TO    BUILD    FIREPROOF. 

double  or  treble  thickness,  according  to  width  of 
opening,  the  boards  being  nailed  diagonally  and 
covered  with  the  best  quality  of  tin,  with  lap- 
welded  joints.* 

It  ought  to  be  unnecessary  to  state  that,  on  the 
exposed  side  of  a  building,  not  only  the  shutter 
but  the  window  frame,  sash,  etc.,  should  be  of 
metal  or  covered  with  metal — riveted  not  soldered. 
Where  it  is  not  possible  to  use  a  fireproof  shutter 
for  want  of  room,  wire  glass  in  a  metal  frame  will 
be  found  a  desirable  substitute.  It  will  probably 
hold  a  fire  until  the  fire  department  can  cope 
with  it.  f 

It  is  not  generally  understood  or  known  that 
fire  will  travel  from  one  story  to  others  above 
by  way  of  the  windows  in  the  outer  or  enclosing 
walls.  Especially  where  a  building  has  an  en- 
closed court  fire  will  sometimes  reach  upper  stories 
in  this  way,  even  when  the  floors  themselves  are 
thoroughly  cut  off ;  the  court  acting  as  a  chim- 
ney. This  happened  several  years  ago  in  the 
Temple  Court  Building,  a  fireproof  structure  in 
New  York.  The  woodwork  on  several  floors  was 
ignited  by  the  lapping  of  fire  through  the  win- 
dows from  the  lower  stories  and  serious  damage 
resulted.  A  more  recent  instance  was  the 
Livingston  fireproof  building  in  New  York  in 

*Full  specifications  for  these  are  given  herewith,  being  the 
rules  of  the  New  York  Board  of  Fire  Underwriters. 

f  Where  the  exposing  building  is  within  15  feet  the  glass 
should  be  double  thickness  with  an  air  space  between  of  one  inch. 


HOW    TO    BUILD    FIREPROOF.  55 

January  1898.  Windows  on  exposed  sides  should 
always  be  protected  with  fire-resisting  shutters. 

It  may  be  well  to  suggest  for  the  benefit  of 
those  who  are  not  familiar  with  city  fires  that,  as 
heat  naturally  ascends,  the  exposure  of  a  low 
building  is  often  much  greater  to  a  neighbor 
higher  than  itself  than  to  a  building  of  its  own 
height,  so  that  a  tall  fireproof  structure  sur- 
rounded by  smaller  buildings  should  be  provided 
with  fire  shutters  to  all  openings.  These  are  not 
necessary  where  the  exposing  buildings  are  oc- 
cupied for  offices  and  are  themselves  fireproof,  as 
the  amount  of  heat  which  escapes  from  the  win- 
dows of  a  burning  building  so  long  as  its  en- 
closing walls  remain  intact  is  seldom  sufficient  to 
ignite  a  fireproof  building  or  its  contents.  The 
moment  of  greatest  danger  is  when  a  burning 
building  collapses  and  the  intense  heat  caused  by 
its  enormous  bed  of  coals  exerts  it  full  eifect 
upon  surrounding  structures.  In  a  recent  fire 
in  New  York  (February  11, 1898,)  three  fireproof 
office  buildings  were  more  or  less  damaged  with 
their  contents  although  many  feet  away  from 
the  burning  building. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  some  inventive  genius 
will  devise  a  plan  for  simultaneously  opening  or 
closing  the  shutters  on  any  or  all  stories  of  high 
buildings  by  manipulation  from  the  ground  floor. 
They  are  usually  left  open  at  night — always  in 
the  daytime — and  might  thus  be  closed  in  case  of 


56  HOW   TO    BUILD    FIREPROOF. 

a  dangerous  fire  in  the  vicinity.     In  some  cases 
they  will  actually  be  found  fastened  open. 

Fireproof  shutters  might  be  arranged  to  run  on 
trolleys  and  close  themselves  automatically,  by 
force  of  gravity,  when  released  by  fusible  links 
or  triggers,  which,  while  unlatching  under  the 
heat  of  a  neighboring  fire,  might  also  be  released 
mechanically  from  the  ground  either  by  screw 
rods  to  lift  the  triggers  or  by  levers.  They  should 
be  about  three  inches  wider  all  around  than  the 
openings  to  be  covered,  and  when  not  needed 
could  be  adjusted  to  rest  between  the  windows 
against  the  piers  of  the  building. 

COMPARATIVE  TESTS  OF  FIREPROOF  MATERIAL. 

Tests  of  fireproof  material,  iron  beams,  pillars, 
floor  arches,  etc.,  to  be  of  any  value  must  be 
conducted  under  circumstances  which  insure  uni- 
form conditions,  otherwise  comparisons  are  un- 
reliable. It  is  quite  customary  to  refer  to  results 
of  fires  in  different  buildings,  having  differing 
forms  of  construction,  as  supporting  theories  of 
relative  merit;  but  ordinary  conflagrations  can- 
not be  relied  upon,  for  the  reason  that  in  two 
buildings,  side  by  side,  the  conditions  may  be 
widely  different.  Eddies  and  currents  of  air, 
changes  of  prevailing  wind,  etc. ,  may  secure  ex- 
emption from  damage.  It  happened  in  the  large 
conflagrations  of  Chicago,  Troy,  Boston,  etc., 
that  the  most  phenomenal  escapes  were  observed. 


HOW    TO.  BUILD    FIREPROOF.  57 

In  some  instances  frame  buildings,  surrounded 
by  brick  structures  which  were  totally  destroyed, 
escaped  with  no  further  damage  than  the  blis- 
tering of  paint. 

Even  where  tests  are  carefully  arranged,  es- 
pecially weight  tests,  obvious  precautions  are 
sometimes  overlooked.  It  will  be  observed,  for 
instance,  where  bricks  are  piled  on  a  surface  of 
floor  arch  and  iron  beams  to  secure  a  certain 
weight  per  square  foot,  the  pile  of  bricks  may  be 
so  disposed  as  to  have  a  bearing  on  both  of  the 
iron  beams  and  the  full  weight  may  not  come 
upon  the  fireproof  arch  between  them.  The 
lateral  bond  of  a  pile  of  bricks  a  few  courses 
higher  than  the  floor  to  be  tested,  may  have  all 
the  effect  of  a  relieving  arch  and  materially  re- 
duce the  strains.  In  furnaces  constructed  to  se- 
cure high  temperatures,  drafts  and  currents  of 
air  should  be  provided  for  with  great  care  and 
under  the  direction  of  the  most  competent  and 
intelligent  experts. 

THE   INTEREST    OF   UNDERWRITERS    IN 
FIREPROOF    CONSTRUCTION. 

In  conclusion  it  may  be  well  to  state,  in  view 
of  the  general  misapprehension  which  prevails 
with  regard  to  the  interest  of  the  fire  underwriter 
in  the  improvement  of  construction,  that  it  makes 
no  difference  to  him  whether  a  building  be  fire- 
proof or  not ;  his  rate  of  premium  and  the  amount 


58  HOW   TO   BUILD    FIREPROOF. 

which  he  insures  are  both  based  upon  the  charac- 
teristics of  each  building  insured.  He  would 
make  just  as  much  money  on  $100  of  premium 
secured  at  a  rate  of  5$  (or  $50  per  $1,000)  for 
$2,000  insurance  on  a  wooden  planing-mill,  as  on 
$100  of  premium  secured  on  $100,000  insurance 
on  a  fireproof  building  the  rate  of  which  is  $1 
per  $1,000. 


BRA 

OF  THE 

(   UNIVERSITY   ) 

OF 

£AUFQS!ii£ 


RECAPITULATION. 

In  order  to  save  anyone  who  contemplates 
erecting  a  fireproof  building  the  trouble  of  re- 
vising the  preceding  pages,  I  have  prepared  the 
following  recapitulation  of  important  points  to  be 
observed,  in  order  that  he  may  be  able  to  check 
Dff  his  plans  and  specifications  and  see  that  all 
important  features  have  been  duly  attended  to. 

ENCLOSING  WALLS.  Should  be  not  less  than 
16  inches  thick  for  the  top  story,  increasing  four 
inches  in  thickness  for  every  25  feet  to  the  bot- 
tom. Should  be  built  of  hard-burned  brick,  the 
lower  stories  (if  not  all)  laid  in  cement  mortar. 

All  weight  carrying  walls  should  be  separated 
by  air  spaces  from  furnace  walls. 

All  templates  should  be  of  cast-iron,  especially 
for  beams  which  support  tanks.  Stone  templates 
should  not  be  used. 

IRON  MEMBERS.  All  ironwork  should  be  fire- 
proofed  i.  e.  protected  by  not  less  than  4  inches  of 
fireproof  material.  Brick  is  best,  well-burned 


60  HOW   TO   BUILD    FIREPROOF. 

terra  cotta  second,  metallic  lathing  and  plaster 
third.  If  plaster  or  metal  lath  be  relied  on,  wrap 
the  column  with  asbestos  quarter  inch  thick, 
bound  with  wire.  If  mercantile  or  manufacturing 
building,  protect  the  fireproofing  material  of  the 
lower  four  feet  of  columns  with  a  metal  cover, 
to  prevent  its  being  knocked  off  by  roller  trucks 
and  merchandise.  Heavy  hardwood  cleats  may 
secure  this. 

Columns  should  be  cast-iron,  the  beam  bearing 
corbel  brackets  being  cast  in  one  piece  with  the 
column.  Columns  should  be  cylindrical  (not 
square)  to  secure  more  perfect  castings.  See 
that  top  and  bottom  bearings  are  planed  smooth 
and  true ;  no  wedges  or  shims  allowed. 

Allow  for  expansion  in  long  systems  of  beams 
or  girders.  Avoid  steel  rivets ;  all  rivet-work 
dangerous  on  account  of  rust.  Beams  should  be 
bolted  to  lugs  on  cast-iron  columns. 

All  ironwork  should  be  well  painted  with  good 
linseed  oil  paint,  the  iron  being  first  thoroughly 
cleaned.  Avoid  turpentine,  dryers,  &c. 

See  that  fireproofing  is  applied  so  that  columns 
may  be  stripped  and  examined  from  time  to  time. 

BEAMS  should  not  be  spaced  wider  apart  than 
five  feet  on  centres. 

BOND  STONES. — Avoid  in  piers. 

STONE  COLUMNS. — Avoid. 

TIE  RODS. — Do  not  omit  them. 

FLOOR  ARCHES. — Best,  old-fashioned  brick 
arch ;  next  best,  terra  cotta  segmental  arches, 


HOW    TO    BUILD    FIREPROOF.  61 

end  construction.  If  patent  concrete  arches  used, 
be  careful  to  see  that  good  quality  of  cement  is 
employed  and  the  stone  or  gravel  thoroughly 
washed.  Arches  should  not  be  laid  in  freezing 
weather.  Only  cement  mortar  should  be  used  and 
every  square  foot  carefully  watched  in  process. 

Cover  top  with  cement  concrete  to  insure  water- 
proof floors.  Leave  scuppers  or  water  vents  at 
each  floor  to  carry  off  water  thrown  by  fire 
department. 

Leave  no  hollow  spaces  below  wooden  floor 
boards. 

STAIRWAYS,  ELEVATORS,  DUMBWAITERS,  ETC. 
Should  be  cut  off  in  all  buildings  by  a  brick  par- 
tition between  the  hallways  and  main  rooms, 
with  fireproof  doors  (for  which  see  Underwriters' 
specifications.)  It  is  best  to  have  all  stairways 
enclosed  in  brick  walls. 

Avoid  stone  treads,  slate  or  marble,  unless  web 
support  of  iron  beneath.  It  is  claimed  wrought- 
iron  support  is  better  than  cast-iron  open  work. 

Thoroughly  fire  stop  all  openings  for  gas,  steam 
pipes  or  electric  wires,  to  prevent  fire  traveling 
from  story  to  story.  These  should  be  in  stair- 
case tower. 

GLASS  WINDOWS. — If  on  exposed  sides  protect 
with  fireproof  shutters,  Underwriters'  specifica- 
tions. Set  eyebolts  for  hinges  when  building 
walls.  If  wire  glass  be  used,  they  should  be 
glazed  in  metal  frames,  and  if  on  exposed  side, 
should  have  double  sheets  with  one  inch  space 
between  them. 


62  HOW   TO    BUILD    FIREPROOF. 

DYNAMO  ROOM. — Avoid  water  or  steam  pipes 
over  switchboard.  Have  glass  floor. 

FIRE  EXTINGUISHING  APPLIANCES. — Have  6- 
inch  standpipes  with  outlets  for  hose  at  each 
story  .for  use  of  firemen,  Siamese  connection  at 
street.  Arrange  signals  to  street  and  hose  on 
each  floor  to  reach  most  remote  point. 

Have  pressure  tanks  in  basement  and  support 
all  roof  tanks  on  iron  beams  (fireproof)  resting  on 
cast-iron  templates  on  brick  walls  where  they 
cannot  endanger  staircases. 

Vertical  pipes  should  be  in  staircase  tower. 

ROOF. — Avoid  all  woodwork  in  roof,  even  out- 
riggers for  cornice.  Avoid  slates  on  slanting 
roofs,  as  in  falling  they  would  injure  firemen. 
Best  roof  is  flat  brick  or  tile. 

PARTITIONS  must  not  rest  on  wooden  sills  or 
bases. 

NIGHT  WATCHMAN. — Have  some  one  on  prem- 
ises at  night  and  on  holidays  understanding  ele- 
vator, force  pumps,  etc.  Have  enough  steam  up 
at  all  times,  to  run  one  elevator. 

SKYLIGHTS. — Protect  with  wire  netting  above 
and  below  and  arrange  so  as  to  be  opened  by 
firemen  for  letting  out  smoke  and  gas.  If  wire 
glass  is  used  then  no  overnetting  or  undernetting 
will  be  required. 

CUT  OFFS  AT  STREET  for  Gas  and  Electric  in- 
stallations should  be  provided  where  firemen  can 
see  and  use  them  in  case  of  fire.  This  is  an  im- 
portant matter. 


NON-FIREPROOF  BUILDINGS. 


HOW  TO  BUILD  A  SLOW-BURNING  STORE  OR 

WAREHOUSE  BUILDING 
IN  ORDER  TO  SECURE  A  LOW  INSURANCE  RATE. 


This  question  is  frequently  propounded  to 
underwriters  by  property -owners  who,  while  un- 
willing to  go  to  the  expense  of  fireproof  con- 
struction, are  quite  willing  to  follow  methods 
which  would  insure  slow  combustion,  provided 
the  expense  of  building  be  not  materially  in- 
creased; especially  if  lower  insurance  rates 
would  yield  a  reasonable  return  on  the  expen- 
diture from  an  investment  viewpoint. 

All  systems  for  fixing  rates  of  premium  for  fire 
insurance  by  schedules,  and  especially  the  Uni- 
versal Mercantile  Schedule,  recognize  the  various 


64  NON-FIREPROOF    BUILDINGS. 

features  of  a  building  by  a  system  which  charges 
in  the  rate  for  departures  from  proper  methods 
of  construction ;  and  especially  for  those  features 
which  tend  to  retard  the  progress  of  fire  once 
started  throughout  the  various  stories  of  a  struc- 
ture and  those  which  aid  in  its  extinction.  It  is 
important,  therefore,  not  only  that  the  enclosing 
walls  should  be  of  sufficient  thickness  to  carry 
the  superimposed  weight,  but  that  they  should 
be  of  sufficient  thickness  to  exclude  the  heat  of  an 
outside  fire;  and  it  is  also  important  that  the 
various  floors  of  a  building  should  be  suf- 
ficiently fire-resisting  to  prevent  the  spread  of 
fire  from  one  story  to  another.  For  this  reason, 
openings  through  the  floors  for  stairways,  ele- 
vators, dumb-waiter  shafts,  channels  for  water, 
gas  or  other  pipes,  etc.,  etc.,  should  be  cut  off  at 
each  story.  There  should,  as  a  rule,  be  no  hollow 
spaces  where  a  fire  could  gain  headway  unob- 
served, such  as  spaces  between  the  plastering  of 
a  ceiling  and  the  floor  boards  of  the  story  above ; 
cocklofts  or  spaces  in  unoccupied  attics ;  hollow 
wooden  box  cornices,  etc.  Concealed  spaces  are 
objectionable,  also,  for  another  reason,  viz.,  that 
they  become  harboring  places  for  rats,  mice  and 
other  vermin,  to  which  they  carry  rubbish,  oily 
combustible  material,  friction  matches,  etc.,  for 
their  nests,  which  are  not  infrequently  con- 
structed in  proximity  to  flues  and  heating  pipes 
whose  warmth  attracts  them. 


NON-FIREPROOF    BUILDINGS.  65 

In  fact,  the  chief  aim  of  the  architect,  from  a 
fire-resisting  standpoint,  should  be,  first,  to  avoid 
conditions  which  would  favor  the  starting  of  fires 
and,  second,  to  observe  precautions  which  would 
prevent  their  spread  and  facilitate  their  ex- 
tinguishment. 

The  use  of  wood  for  beams,  girders  and  sup- 
porting columns  is  not  so  objectionable  from  the 
fire  standpoint  as  is  generally  supposed,  provided 
they  are  of  sufficient  size  to  carry  their  loads 
after  their  surface  has  been  invaded  by  fire  to  the 
extent  of  say  two  inches.  Fire  seldom  gets 
deeper  into  a  solid  12  inch  column  or  beam  with 
a  good  fire  department.  In  slow-burning  con- 
struction or  mill  construction,  so  called,  all 
wooden  beams,  girders  and  pillars  should  be  not 
less  than  12  inches  thick,  and  the  floor  plank 
should  be  not  less  than  three  inches  in  thickness, 
tongued  and  grooved,  or  connected  by  splines,  with 
a  floor  board  one  inch  thick  and  planed.  If  Sala- 
mander or  other  fire  retardent  is  used  between  the 
two,  the  probabilities  of  confining  a  fire  are  in- 
creased. Sheet  iron  or  tin,  painted  on  both  sides 
with  a  good  oil  paint,  inserted  between  the  two 
would  be  an  admirable  precaution,  but  would  add 
to  the  expense  beyond  the  figure  which  most 
property-owners  would  approve. 

The  following  is  the  description  employed  in 
the  Universal  Mercantile  Schedule  for  a  standard 
building,  to  secure  the  basis  rate : 


66  NON-FIREPEOOF   BUILDINGS. 

A  Standard  Building  is  one  having  walls  of  brick  or  stone 
(brick  preferred,)  not  less  than  twelve  inches  thick  at  top  story  (16 
inches  if  stone,)  extending  through  and  36  inches  above  roof  in 
parapet  and  coped,  and  increasing  four  inches  in  thickness  for 
each  story  below  to  the  ground — the  increased  thickness  of  each 
story  to  be  utilized  for  beam  ledges.  Floors  of  two  inch  plank, 
(three  inches  better)  covered  by  |  or  one  inch  flooring,  crossing 
diagonally,  with  waterproof  paper  or  approved  fire-resisting 
material  between  (if  tin  or  sheet-iron  between,  see  deductions;) 
wooden  beams,  girders  and  wooden  story  posts  or  pillars  twelve 
inches  thick,  or  protected  iron  columns;  elevators,  stairways, 
etc.,  cut  off  by  brick  walls  or  by  plaster  on  metallic  studs  and 
lathing ;  communications  at  each  floor  protected  with  approved 
tin-covered  doors  and  fire- proof  sills;  windows  and  doors  on  ex- 
posed sides  protected  by  approved  tin-covered  doors  and  shutters; 
walls  of  flues  not  less  than  eight  inches  in  thickness,  to  be  lined 
with  fire-brick,  well-burned  clay  or  cast-iron,  and  throat  capacity 
not  less  than  64  square  inches  if  steam  boilers  are  used  ;  (12  inch 
circular  flues  are  better)  all  floor  timbers  to  be  trimmed  at  least 
four  inches  from  outside  of  flue  ;  heated  by  steam,  lighted  by  gas  ; 
cornices  of  incombustible  material ;  roof  of  metal  or  tile ;  if  par- 
titions are  hollow  or  walls  are  furred  off  there  must  be  fire-stops 
at  eccli  floor. 

If  this  description  of  building  is  still  further  improved,  re- 
ductions in  rate  may  be  secured  for  the  following  features  of  ex- 
ceptional construction : 

FLOORS.     For  tin  or  sheet-iron  between  floors. 

If  waterproof,  arranged  with  waste-ways  and  scuppers  and 
inclined  to  carry  off  surplus  water  thrown  by  fire  department  to 
sewer  or  street. 

If  the  grade  floor  be  fire-proof,  protecting  the  upper  portion 
of  the  building  from  fires  in  the  basement  or  cellar,  and  the  com- 
municating stairway  to  main  building  thoroughly  cut  off. 

CEILINGS  AND  PARTITIONS.  If  of  incombustible  material 
throughout  or  plastered  on  metallic  studs  and  lathing,  the  lathing 
to  have  a  good  key  for  plaster  a  further  deduction  is  made. 

NOTE. — If  the  main  "fore  and  aft"  partition  separating  halls 
containing  stairs  and  elevators  from  the  stores,  be  of  brick  or 
metallic  lathing,  etc.,  with  protected  openings  it  Avould  save 
building  from  charges  67,  C8,  69,  70,  etc.,  as  to  elevators  and 
stairways. 

Taking  the  building  from  the  foundation  to 
the  roof,  therefore,  in  the  order  in  which  it  is 
constructed,  the  following  details  of  construction 


NON-FIREPROOF    BUILDINGS.  67 

should  be  observed  to  secure  the  lowest  rate  of 
fire  insurance : 

FOUNDATION.  This  is  largely  a  question  of 
engineering,  but  it  may  be  stated  here  that  the 
most  competent  experts  in  engineering,  archi- 
tecture and  construction,  to-day,  pay  great  at- 
tention to  secure  footings  and  substantial  foun- 
dations, driving  piles_±o-a^solid  bearing  wherever . 
necessary. 

STAIRWAYS,  ELEVATORS,  DUMB-WAITERS, 
channels  for  pipes,  etc.,  should  be  cut  off  at  each 
floor  and  enclosed  with  fire -proof  materials ;  the 
stairways  and  elevators  especially  by  brick  walls 
or  by  fire-proof  terra  cotta  not  less  than  four 
inches  thick,  securely  braced  with  angle  iron. 
Brick  walls  are  decidedly  preferable.  Doors  en- 
tering from  halls  to  the  various  rooms  should  be 
self-closing  and  are  improved  greatly  by  being 
covered  with  tin. 

FLOORS.  These,  as  already  stated,  should  be 
solid,  without  air  spaces,  with  3-inch  plank, 
splined  or  tongued  and  grooved,  and  inch  thick 
lloor  boards ;  Salamander  or  waterproof  paper 
between.  Tin  or  sheet  iron  painted  both  sides  is 
better. 

STORY  POSTS,  BEAMS,  GIRDERS,  ETC.  These 
should  be  not  less  than  12  inches  in  diameter,  if 
round,  or  12  inches  square.  The  floor  beams 
should  be  cut  on  a  bevel  of  three  inches  where 
they  are  inserted  into  the  enclosing  or  bearing 


68  NON-FIREPROOF    BUILDINGS. 

walls,  so  that,  in  case  of  burning  through  in  the 
middle,  they  would  release  themselves  without 
tearing  out  the  walls.  There  are  some  excellent 
patent  devices  for  anchoring  floor  beams,  con- 
sisting of  cast-iron  boxes  resting  in  the  wall  so 
constructed  as  to  release  the  floor  beam  without 
damage  in  case  it  should  burn,  and  serving  also 
to  protect  the  ends  of  the  beams  from  dry  rot  and 
from  charring  in  case  of  a  fire  in  an  adjoining 
building. 

FLUES.  These  should  be  surrounded  by  at 
least  8  inches  of  brickwork,  and  will  be  improved 
still  further  by  having  fireproof  tile  linings. 

ENCLOSING  WALLS.  These  should  be  not  less 
than  12  inches  thick  for  the  top  story,  if  of  brick 
(16  inches  would  be  better,)  and  should  increase 
in  thickness  four  inches  for  each  story  to  the 
bottom.  While  the  wall  here  recommended,  and 
the  standard  of  the  Universal  Mercantile  Schedule 
already  quoted,  12  inches  thick  at  the  highest 
point,  increasing  four  inches  for  each  story  to  the 
bottom,  utilizing  the  increased  thickness  at  each 
story  as  beam-bearing  ledges,  is  unquestionably 
the  only  kind  that  should  be  erected  for  fire- 
resisting  purposes,  it  is  customary  to  build  ac- 
cording to  the  New  York  Building  Law,  the  re- 
quirements of  which  are  as  follows : 

"The  walls  of  all  warehouses,  stores,  factories  and  stables, 
twenty-five  feet  or  less  in  width  between  walls — 

Shall  not  be  less  than  twelve  inches  thick  to  the  height  of 
forty  feet. 


NON-FIREPROOF   BUILDINGS.  69 

If  over  forty  .feet  in  height,  and  not  over  sixty  feet  in  height, 
the  walls  shall  not  be  less  than  sixteen  inches  thick  to  the  height 
of  forty  feet,  or  to  the  nearest  tier  of  beams  to  that  height,  and 
from  thence  not  less  than  twelve  inches  thick  to  the  top. 

If  over  sixty  feet  in  height,  and  not  over  seventy-five  feet  in 
height,  the  walls  shall  not  be  less  than  twenty  inches  thick  to  the 
height  of  twenty-five  feet  or  to  the  nearest  tier  of  beams  to  that 
height,  and  from  thence  not  less  than  sixteen  inches  thick  to  the  top. 

If  over  seventy-five  feet  in  height,  and  not  over  eighty-five 
feet  in  height,  the  walls  shall  not  be  less  than  twenty-four  inches 
thick  to  tlie  height  of  twenty  feet,  or  to  the  nearest  tier  of  beams 
to  that  height ;  thence  not  less  than  twenty  inches  thick  to  the 
height  of  sixty  feet,  or  to  the  nearest  tier  of  beams  to  that  height, 
and  thence  not  less  than  sixteen  inches  thick  to  the  top. 

If  over  eighty-five  feet  in  height,  and  not  over  one  hundred 
feet  in  height,  the  walls  shall  not  be  less  than  twenty -eight  inches 
thick  to  the  height  of  twenty-five  feet,  or  to  the  nearest  tier  of 
beams  to  that  height ;  thence  not  less  than  twenty-four  inches 
thick  to  the  height  of  fifty  feet  or  to  the  nearest  tier  of  beams  to 
that  height;  thence  not  less  than  twenty  inches  thick  to  the 
height  of  seventy-five  feet,  or  to  the  nearest  tier  of  beams  to  that 
height,  and  thence  not  less  than  sixteen  inches  thick  to  the  top." 

No  building  for  the  storage  of  merchandise 
should  be  higher  than  60  feet  from  the  ground, 
unless  fireproof  throughout,  and  then  not  over  95 
feet,  even  in  cities  with  good  fire  departments. 

PARAPET  WALLS.  The  enclosing  walls  of  a 
building  should  be  carried  above  the  roof  and 
coped  with  stone  as  a  protection  from  the  weather, 
to  a  height  of  at  least  12  inches ;  to  protect  the 
building  from  fires  in  adjoining  structures. 

ROOF.  This  should  be  of  metal,  without  an 
air  space. 

WATER  TANK.  This  should  be  supported  upon 
brick  walls,  so  as  not  to  give  way  and  fall,  as 
would  be  the  case  if  wooden  supports  were  con- 
sumed. It  may  rest  upon  railroad  iron  or  I-beams 
carried  from  wall  to  wall.  Under  no  circum- 


'<0  NON-FIREPROOF   BUILDINGS. 

stances  sliould  it  rest  above  the  staircase,  where 
in  falling  it  would  endanger  the  lives  of  firemen. 

ELECTRIC  WIRING.  This  should  be  installed 
in  accordance  with  the  rules  of  the  National 
Board  of  Fire  Underwriters,  which  may  be  ob- 
tained without  charge  from  any  local  board  of 
underwriters. 

WATERPROOF  FLOORS.  Great  damage  usually 
results  to  stocks  of  merchandise  from  the  water 
thrown  by  fire  departments  to  extinguish  fires. 
The  floors  should,  therefore,  be  waterproof  and 
should  be  so  inclined  to  the  side  or  rear  walls  that 
the  water  will  run  off  by  means  of  scuppers  or 
metal  pipes  inserted  in  the  walls  at  the  floor 
level,  having  check  valves  which  would  prevent 
the  ingress  of  cold  air  and  permit  the  egress  of 
water.  The  door-sills  should  be  one  inch  high. 
Such  precautions  are  always  recognized  in  rates 
by  underwriters,  and  it  may  happen  that  a  fire 
can  be  extinguished  on  one  floor  without  having 
the  water  escape  to  those  below. 

CLOSETS.  There  should  be  no  closets,  especially 
for  oils,  filling  lamps  or  other  purposes,  under 
the  staircases  or  elevators,  where  a  fire  starting 
would  quickly  reach  the  floors  above.  In  fact 
closets  are  always  objectionable  in  mercantile  and 
manufacturing  buildings.  They  are  hiding  places 
for  careless  employees,  who  put  greasy  overalls, 
oily  waste  or  other  rubbish  in  them,  often  with 
friction  matches.  Numerous  fires  start  in  such 


NON-FIREPROOF   BUILDINGS.  71 

places  and  assume  dimensions  under  conditions 
that  make  them  dangerous.  Wherever  prac- 
ticable, concealed  places  of  all  kinds  should  be 
avoided. 

RECEPTACLES  FOR  WASTE,  RUBBISH,  ETC., 
These  should  always  be  of  metal — never  of  wood — 
and  they  should  be  emptied  every  night,  not  left 
in  the  building.  An  old-fashioned  cast-iron 
kettle,  with  legs  and  a  metal  cover,  is  the  best 
receptacle  for  oily  waste  or  rubbish,  which  is 
liable  to  ignite  spontaneously.  All  rubbish 
should  be  treated  as  dangerous. 

Saw-dust  spittoons  should  not  be  allowed  un- 
der any  circumstances.  They  are  receptacles  for 
cast  away  cigar-stumps  and  cigarettes. 

HEATING.  If  by  steam  pipes  they  should,  at 
no  point,  come  in  contact  writh  wood,  but  should 
be  guarded  by  thimbles  where  they  pass  through 
floors.  If  by  furnace,  the  hot  air  pipes  should 
not  pass  between  the  floor  of  one  room  and  the 
ceiling  below,  or  between  stud  and  lath  and 
plaster  partitions.  Where  it  is  necessary  to  have 
a  hot  air  pipe  pass  out  of  sight  it  should  be 
double  with  an  inner  and  outer  pipe  and  a  space 
of  half  an  inch  between  the  two. 

DRY  ROT.  It  is  important  to  observe  pre- 
cautions to  insure  against  dry  rot  in  buildings 
with  wooden  floor  joists  or  wooden  columns,  es- 
pecially if  they  are  covered  up  by  plaster  to  pro- 
tect  them  from  fire.  It  is  customary  to  cover 


72  NON-FIREPROOF   BUILDINGS. 

them  with,  wire  lathing  and  plaster,  and  in  such 
cases,  small  perforations  about  i-inch  in  diameter 
through  the  plaster  at  the  top  and  bottom  of  a 
pillar  or  column  would  probably  secure  sufficient 
ventilation  to  save  the  column,  which,  also, 
should  be  centre-bored.  This  is  true  also  of  floor 
beams,  which  may  be  ventilated  at  each  end  with 
small  holes  in  some  ornamental  pattern.  It  is  not 
generally  known,  however,  that  unprotected 
beams,  if  12  inches  in  diameter,  as  already  stated, 
are  rarely  consumed  to  the  point  of  breaking, 
if  the  city  has  even  an  average  fire  department. 

WOODEN  CEILING  AND  SHEATHING  ON  SIDE 
WALLS.  This  is  decidedly  dangerous,  especially 
where  pine  or  other  resinous  wood  is  used.  Fire 
flashes  readily  over  the  entire  surface  and  quickly 
gets  under  such  headway  as  to  defy  the  efforts  of 
the  fire  department.  If  floor  joists  and  side  walls, 
are  not  to  be  left  exposed,  (the  plastering,  if  any, 
on  the  side  walls  without  wooden  laths,  furring, 
etc.,  what  is  known  as  "open  finish,")  the  old 
fashioned  plaster,  even  on  wooden  lathing,  is  in- 
finitely preferable  to  wooden  sheathing  or  ceiling. 
If  plaster  is  used  it  should  always  be  upon  wire 
lathing.  This  insures  a  good  key  or  clinch  to 
the  plaster  and  will  retain  the  plaster  when 
saturated  with  water  longer  than  wooden  laths. 
It  forms  an  effective  fire- stop  for  a  considerable 
time  and  materially  aids  the  fire  department  in 
extinguishing  a  fire. 


NON-FIREPROOF   BUILDINGS.  73 

FlRE-EXTINGUISHING     APPLIANCES.          Stand- 

pipes,  supplied  by  the  tank  on  the  roof  with 
water  under  pressure,  not  less  than  four  inches  in 
diameter,  are  always  recognized  by  underwriters. 
They  should  have  hose  outlets  at  each  story,  con- 
veniently located  near  the  stairs,  where  they  can 
be  used  to  the  last  moment,  and  the  hose  should 
be  frequently  tested,  thoroughly  dried  after  using 
and  arranged  so  that  it  will  not  be  rotted  by 
water  left  in  it.  Fire  pails  are  admirable  for  ex- 
tinguishing fires,  and  a  sufficient  number  filled 
with  water,  with  possibly  a  cask  for  auxiliary 
supply,  should  be  near  the  stairs  on  every  story. 
They  are  always  recognized  by  underwriters  and 
very  favorably  regarded,  since  the  most  ignorant 
persons  know  how  to  use  them.  Where  inflam- 
mable oils  are  kept  it  would  be  an  improvement 
to  have  one  or  two  pails  filled  with  sand.  Not 
less  than  six  fire  pails  to  every  2,500  square  feet 
of  floor  area  should  be  provided.  Salt  in  the 
water  may  prevent  its  freezing  in  winter. 

SPRINKLER  PIPES.  The  piping  for  automatic 
sprinkler  pipes  should  be  installed  when  the 
building  is  being  erected.  The  rules,  sizes  of 
pipes,  etc.,  can  be  obtained  of  the  underwriters. 

WELL-HOLES,  HATCHWAYS,  ETC.,  These  are 
always  objectionable,  as  they  insure  the  rapid 
progress  of  fire  throughout  the  various  floors  into 
which  such  well  holes  open.  They  should  be 
avoided  in  store  and  warehouse  buildings. 


74  NON-FIREPROOF   BUILDINGS. 

SKY-LIGHTS.  These  should  be  of  thick  glass, 
with  metal  frames,  and  should  be  guarded  by 
wire  netting  above,  to  protect  them  from  falling 
fire  brands  from  outside  fires,  and  by  wire  netting 
below,  to  prevent  broken  glass  falling  on  the  fire- 
men when  extinguishing  a  fire. 

It  will  be  observed  in  reading  the  foregoing 
specifications  that,  from  a  fire  standpoint,  the 
aim  of  the  architect  or  builder  should  be  to  secure 
substantial  enclosing  walls ;  substantial  floor  sup- 
ports ;  fire-proof  enclosures  for  elevators,  stair- 
cases, dumb-waiters  and  all  communications  from 
story  to  story ;  to  avoid  hollow  concealed  spaces ; 
and  to  secure  a  fire- resisting  roof.  These  are  the 
main  points  to  be  kept  in  mind,  and  the  necessary 
details  and  precautions  to  be  observed  ought 
naturally  to  occur  to  any  intelligent  and  con- 
scientious architect  or  builder. 

Perhaps  the  four  most  important  considerations 
to  be  observed  in  slow-burning  construction  are  : 
Timbers  not  less  than  12  inches  thick ; 
Floor  planking  double  and  four  inches  thick  and 

waterproof ; 
Openings  from  story  to  story  cut  oif,  to  prevent 

drafts,  and 
Entire  absence  of  concealed  spaces  which  would 

afford  a  harboring  place  for  rats  and  mice  or 

admit  of  a  fire  getting  beyond  control  before 

discovery. 


FIRE  IN  THE  HOME  LIFE  BUILDING, 

Broadway,  New  York,  Dec.  4,  1898. 


This  building  was  55  feet  front  by  101  feet  deep, 
fronting  east,  on  City  Hall  Park,  with  two  square 
light  courts,  one  on  the  north  side  and  one  on  the 
south.  It  was  16  stories  high  above  the  sidewalk ; 
192  feet  to  the  flat  roof,  and  about  50  feet  ad- 
ditional to  the  top  of  the  tower ;  constructed  with 
steel  skeleton  framework  covered  with  incombus- 
tible material ;  arches  of  hard-burned  clay  tile ; 
windows  on  all  sides  unprotected  by  iron  shut- 
ters ;  window-frames  and  sashes  of  wood.  A 
ground  plan  and  photographs  of  the  building 
taken  before  and  after  the  fire  are  herewith  shown. 
This  building  was  in  many  respects  exceptionally 
well  built  with  iron  work  protected  and  stone 
ashlar  well  backed  with  brick. 

Fire  gained  access  from  the  windows  in  the 
north  court,  blown  with  blow-pipe  intensity  by  a 
gale  of  about  fifty  miles  an  hour  from  the  north- 
east. The  Fire  Department  was  unable  to  get 


76  HOW  TO  BUILD  FIEEPEOOF. 

water  above  the  eighth  floor,  or  about  108  feet 
above  the  sidewalk,  and  the  contents  of  the 
stories  above  this  height  were  almost  entirely 
cremated — office  furniture,  floor  boards,  doors, 
window-sash  and  frames  and  other  so-called 
wooden  "trim."  No  damage  was  done  to  the 
iron  and  steel  structure,  which  was  well  built, 
but  the  marble  front,  elaborately  carved,  with 
projecting  balconies,  etc.,  was  almost  entirely 
ruined  above  the  eighth  floor  by  the  joint  action 
of  heat  and  water. 

If  the  windows  on  the  north  side  next  the  ex- 
posing building  had  been  protected  with  fireproof 
shutters  it  is  probable  that  little  if  any  damage 
would  have  been  done  in  the  Home  Life  Building. 

It  is  well  to  note  that  the  iron  lattice  girders  or 
braces  which  spanned  the  north  court  and  which 
may  be  seen  in  the  photographs  expanded  and 
sagged  in  the  intense  heat  of  the  adjoining  fire 
and  had  to  be  replaced.  If  these  had  been  boxed 
with  metal,  even  with  tin  or  possibly  copper  casing 
with  an  air  space  they  would  not  have  yielded. 
A  commendable  feature  of  this  court  was  the  use 
of  -iron  for  lintels  instead  of  stone. 

The  following  are  the  lessons  of  the  fire,  em- 
phasizing the  suggestions  to  which  reference  has 
been  made  in  the  preceding  pages. 

FLOOES.  These,  if  of  wood,  should  have  the 
space  between  the  underside  of  the  floor  boards 
and  the  top  of  the  fireproof  arches  thoroughly 


HOW  TO  BUILD  FIREPROOF.  77 

filled  in  with  concrete  (see  page  40. )  In  the  Home 
Life  Building  this  was  not  done,  and  the  floors 
were  thoroughly  consumed,  adding  to  the  de- 
struction of  the  furniture,  etc.,  and  helping  to 
spread  the  fire  from  room  to  room.  The  spaces 
under  the  door  sills  should  always  be  fire- 
stopped,  even  if  the  entire  hollow  space  beneath 
the  floor  boards  are  not  filled  in.  The  fireproof 
partitions  were,  very  properly,  carried  through 
the  floors  to  the  fireproof  arches,  and  did  not  rest 
on  the  wooden  floor  boards  or  the  wooden  sills, 
as  is  sometimes  the  case  (see  page  16;)  but  this 
precaution  did  not  save  the  structure,  because  of 
the  openings  through  partitions  for  windows,  etc. 
Another  serious  fault  of  hollow  spaces  under 
the  wooden  floor  boards  was  developed  in  this 
fire.  The  floors  naturally  burned  more  rapidly 
under  the  front  of  fireproof  safes  and  let  down 
the  front  castors  or  wheels  in  advance  of  the  rear 
wheels.  The  falling  forward  of  a  large  safe  on 
one  floor  broke  out  the  fireproof  arch  and  let  the 
safe  through  to  the  floor  below,  where  fortunately 
it  was  arrested  and  held  by  a  floor  beam.  Fire- 
proof safes  should  be  arranged  so  as  to  extend 
over  two  of  the  iron  floor  beams,  or  if  the  spacing 
of  these  is  too  great  they  should  rest  on  iron 
bars  or  plates  so  as  to  extend  the  bearing  to  the 
beams.  This  is  important  in  the  case  of  jewelry 
safes  and  would  be  a  serious  feature  in  arches  of 
wider  spans  than  five  feet — the  Guastavino  arches 
for  example. 


78  HOW  TO  BUILD  FIREPROOF. 

There  can  be  no  question  that  all  buildings 
in  excess  of  125  feet  high,  or  certainly  those  por- 
tions of  them  above  this  height,  should  have  lire- 
proof  floors  of  concrete.  Such  floors  can  be  easily 
arranged  with  holes  at  the  border  for  fastening 
floor  cloths,  carpets,  etc.  Only  cement,  rock  as- 
phalt, marble  tiling,  mosaic  or  other  incombus- 
tible materials  should  be  employed. 

WINDOWS.  All  window  frames  or  sash  should 
be  of  metal  and  protected  with  fireproof  shutters 
(page  6.)  Wherever  shutters  are  not  possible, 
wire  glass  should  be  used. 

STAIRCASES.  Stone  treads  of  marble  or  slate 
should  not  be  used  unless  supported  by  an  iron 
web  of  sufficiently  close  meshes  to  afford  a  footing 
in  case  the  stone  yields  to  fire  and  water,  as  it 
certainly  will  if  exposed.  In  the  Home  Life 
Building  the  staircases  were  saved  owing  to  the 
fact  that  fireproof  partitions  prevented  the  fire 
from  reaching  them  (see  pages  19  and  20.) 

STONE  FRONTS.  The  damage  done  to  the 
marble  front  of  this  building  enforces  the  sug- 
gestions on  pages  29  and  30.  Projections  for 
balconies,  window-sills  and  caps,  and  other  or- 
nate finish  are  objectionable ;  they  fall  early  in  a 
fire  and  hinder  the  efforts  of  the  firemen. 

Stone  fronts,  especially  if  of  marble,  granite  or 
other  limestone,  are  liable  to  be  severely  injured 
by  heat  and  water,  and  an  entire  facade  may  thus 
require  to  be  replaced — a  serious  item  in  the  case 
of  ornamental  or  carved  stonework. 


HOW  TO  BUILD  FIREPROOF.  79 

Under  the  combined  eif ect  of  fire  and  water  all 
limestones  show  little  more  resistance  than  so 
much  sugar. 

To  the  extent,  therefore,  that  the  value  of  the 
stonework  is  a  larger  or  smaller  percentage  of  the 
value  of  the  building,  and  according  to  whether 
the  stone  can  be  easily  procured  or  must  be  pur- 
chased at  monopoly  prices,  these  facts  should  be 
taken  into  account,  especially  where  there  are  ex- 
posures, in  fixing  the  building  line  and  insurance 
rate.  It  ought  not  to  affect  materially  the  line  of 
insurance  on  the  stock,  however.  Even  where 
the  building  contains  office  furniture  only,  suf- 
ficient heat  may  pass  out  through  the  windows, 
as  in  the  case  of  the  Home  Life  Building  and  the 
Temple  Court  Building,  to  injure  the  stone  lin- 
tels, ashlar,  etc.,  (see  the  photograph  of  Home 
Life  Building.) 

VERTICAL  PIPES  for  the  use  of  fire  department. 
A  4-inch  or,  better  still,  a  6 -inch  pipe,  with  outlets 
at  each  story,  for  the  use  of  the  Fire  Department, 
as  recommended  on  page  17,  should  be  provided 
in  all  high  buildings.  In  the  case  of  the  Home 
Life  Building  the  tank  was  quickly  emptied  and 
no  water  could  be  secured  on  the  upper  floors, 
which  were  too  far  above  the  street  to  be  reached 
by  the  fire  department  with  hose.  (The  thread 
for  coupling  and  the  pipe  should  be  the  standard 
of  the  city  fire  department,  2^-inch  coupling,  8 
threads  to  inch.) 


80  HOW  TO  BUILD  FIREPROOF. 

WOODWORK  AND  OTHER  TRIM.  It  is  claimed 
that  these  can  be  fireproof ed  by  processes  which 
make  them  practically  incombustible.  Several 
buildings  in  New  York  have  fireproofed  trim, 
notably  the  Dun  Building,  Commercial  Cable 
Building  and  the  Queen  Building.  (See  page  40.) 
It  is  claimed  that  some  fireproof  processes  render 
the  wood  unfit  for  paint,  varnish,  etc.,  care 
should  be  exercised. 

PARTITIONS.  These  should  be  fireproof,  of 
well-burned  porous  clay.  The  hard-burned  clay 
does  not  hold  plaster  so  well  as  the  porous  kind. 
And  they  should  in  all  cases  pass  through  the 
flooring  and  rest  upon  the  fireproof  iron  beams 
and  arches,  so  as  to  thoroughly  cut  off  the  pas- 
sage of  fire  from  room  to  room;  (see  page  16.) 

COMBUSTIBLE  CONTENTS.  This  fire  clearly 
demonstrated  the  fact  that  furniture,  fixtures, 
merchandise,  wooden  flooring  and  trim  will  be  as 
effectually  cremated  in  a  fireproof  building  as 
would  the  fuel  in  a  stove.  A  number  of  the 
tenants  in  this  building  were  uninsured,  relying 
upon  the  fireproof  character  of  the  structure, 
overlooking  the  fact,  strangely  enough,  that  their 
property  was  not  fireproof.  (See  page  21.) 

It  is  my  opinion  that  if  the  contents  of  these 
upper  floors  of  the  Home  Life  Building  had  been 
combustible  merchandise  solidly  packed,  instead 
of  office  furniture  allowed  as  it  was  to  burn  out 
because  the  Fire  Department  could  not  get  water 
to  it,  the  iron  framework  of  the  building  would 


HOW  TO  BUILD  FIREPROOF.  81 

have  given  way,  and  it  is  highly  probable  the 
upper  part  of  the  building  would  have  fallen. 
One  of  the  most  practical  Builders  of  New  York, 
who  has  put  up  a  number  of  fireproof  buildings, 
once  said  that  he  believed  a  bad  fire  in  the  waist 
or  middle  of  one  of  these  structures  would  double 
it  up  like  a  jackknife.  What  would  happen  in 
case  of  the  tumbling  over  of  one  of  these  enor- 
mous structures  must  be  left  to  the  imagination. 
FIRE-EXTINGUISHING  APPLIANCES.  Tanks  do 
not  contain  enough  water  to  be  of  value  for 
stubborn  fires  in  these  high  structures  unless  an 
auxiliary  source  of  supply  is  provided,  and  even 
in  such  case,  as,  for  example,  where  a  building 
is  supplied  with  sprinklers  and  arrangements  are 
made  to  attach  a  steam  fire  engine  to  a  street 
outlet  and  so  supply  the  system  after  the  tank 
has  been  exhausted,  it  would  be  insufficient  to 
accomplish  much  in  the  way  of  extinguishing  a 
fire  already  under  headway.  A  steam  fire  engine 
would  supply  only  a  given  number  of  heads  and 
would  fall  far  short  of  supplying  the  sprinklers 
over  a  large  territory.  This  is  a  possibility  that 
seems  to  be  very  generally  overlooked.  It  en- 
forces the  opinion  that  these  buildings  should  not 
be  constructed  over  150  feet  high  and  that  mer- 
cantile and  manufacturing  buildings  should  not 
be  constructed  over  100  feet  high,  and  that  mer- 
chandise should  never  be  stored  higher  than  100 
feet  above  the  grade. 


82  HOW  TO  BUILD  FIREPROOF. 

PUMP-ROOM.  It  will  be  found  that  owners  of 
fireproof  buildings,  and  some  underwriters,  over- 
look the  fact  that  the  volume  of  water  thrown  to 
extinguish  a  fire  is  sufficient  quickly  to  drown 
out  the  engine  and  pump  room,  put  out  the  fires, 
expel  the  engineer  and  stop  the  elevators.  If  pos- 
sible the  pump  and  engine  room  should  be  so  cut 
off  from  the  rest  of  the  building  that  it  would 
not  be  flooded,  no  matter  how  much  water  should 
be  thrown  to  extinguish  the  fire.  This  is  not 
always  easy  nor  possible,  and  where  it  is  not,  too 
much  reliance  should  not  be  placed  upon  the  in- 
dependent pump  system  of  the  plant.  Of  course 
the  outlet  to  the  sewer  and  the  sewer  itself  should 
be  of  sufficient  capacity  to  carry  off  the  water 
thrown  by  the  fire  department — probably  as  much 
as  4,000  gallons  per  minute,  if  say  ten  steam  fire 
engines  were  working. 

The  staircases  and  elevators  of  a  fireproof 
building  should  be  enclosed  in  four  brick  walls, 
with  fireproof  doors  protecting  the  communica- 
tions with  the  main  structure  and  outside  win- 
dows as  well  in  case  neighboring  buildings  should 
project  enough  heat  into  the  window  openings  to 
prevent  the  egress  of  inmates  or  the  ingress  of 
the  firemen.  Wire  glass  would  be  desirable  for 
such  windows. 

CHANNELS  FOR  WIRES,  PIPING,  ETC.  All  of 
the  electric-light  wires,  telephone  wires,  rising 
pipes,  etc.,  should  pass  through  the  floors  in  this 


HOW  TO  BUILD  FIREPROOF.  83 

fireproof  compartment,  and  the  main  standpipe, 
with  hose  outlets,  should  also  pass  up  this  shaft 
near  the  doors,  so  that  it  could  be  used  to  the 
last  moment  by  the  firemen.  In  most  modern 
structures  doors  of  rooms  containing  combustible 
material  open  directly  opposite  elevator  shafts 
and  stairways,  and  the  smoke  of  a  fire  in  any  one 
room  might  render  them  quickly  impassable. 

STEAM  JETS  for  Extinguishing  Fire.  These 
would  prove,  admirable  for  extinguishing  pur- 
poses as  they  could  be  turned  on  by  the  engineer, 
with  valves  in  the  engine-room.  A  steam  jet  would 
quickly  smother  a  fire  in  any  one  room  or  floor, 
and  there  ought  always  to  be  enough  steam  for 
the  purpose  on  holidays  and  at  night. 

BOND  STONES,  STONE  PIERS,  ETC.  Since  the 
publication  of  the  first  edition  of  this  work  on  the 
danger  of  bond,  stones  in  inside  piers,  fully  ex- 
plained on  pages  29  and  30,  a  stubborn  fire  which 
occurred  in  the  City  of  New  York,  January  18, 
1899,  in  the  Cammeyer  Building,  Sixth  Avenue 
and  Twentieth  Street,  has  demonstrated  the  im- 
portance of  employing  only  cast-iron  for  bonds 
and  caps,  and  the  great  danger  of  using  granite 
or  other  stone  for  the  purpose.  The  accom- 
panying photographs  show  the  condition  of  brick 
piers  five  feet  square  after  the  fire  was  ex- 
tinguished. The  cracks  extending  from  the  cap 
stone  through  the  brick  work  and  bond  stone 
below  are  plainly  visible. 


84  HOW  TO  BUILD  FIREPROOF. 

It  will  be  apparent  that  if  the  fire  had  burned 
much  longer  these  piers,  whose  integrity  was 
vital  to  the  structure,  would  have  given  way  and 
let  down  the  main  girders.  The  cracks  in  the 
brickwork  are  due  to  the  cracks  first  occurring  in 
the  cap  and  bond  stones,  the  result  of  which  was 
to  throw  the  heavy  superimposed  weight  upon  a 
smaller  section  of  the  pier.  If  the  cap  and  the 
bond  had  been  of  cast-iron  the  brickwork  would 
have  been  uninjured. 

This  fire  also  demonstrated  the  truth  of  what 
has  been  claimed  for  cast-iron  on  pages  7,  8,  9 
and  31.  The  cast-iron  vertical  supports,  sub- 
jected to  the  same  intense  heat  which  ruined  the 
brick  and  stone  piers,  although  unprotected  by 
fireproofing  material,  as  they  should  have  been, 
were  entirely  uninjured.  Even  6-inch  cast-iron 
columns  supporting  a  girder  in  the  rear  were  un- 
bent and  found  to  be  thoroughly  capable  of 
carrying  their  superimposed  loads  after  the  fire. 

It  would  have  been  better  in  this  instance  to 
have  dispensed  with  the  brick  pier  and  its  bond 
and  cap  stone  and  employed  a  circular  cast-iron 
column,  protected  by  eight  inches  of  brickwork. 
This  would  have  been  less  expensive  than  the 
large  piers  employed  (five  feet  square)  and  would 
have  been  a  material  gain  in  the  matter  of  saving 
space  and  light. 

After  a  personal  examination  of  this  building, 
in  which  I  had  the  benefit  of  the  expert  knowl- 


HOW  TO  BUILD  FISEPEOOF.  85 

edge  of  Chief  Bonner,  of  the  New  York  Fire  De- 
partment, on  whose  judgment  based  upon  many 
years  of  intelligent  observation  I  greatly  rely,  I 
find  nothing  to  take  back  in  previous  utterances 
on  these  two  important  subjects.  Only  cast-iron 
vertical  supports  should  be  used  in  cellars  par- 
ticularly, where  they  are  subjected  more  than  in 
any  other  place  to  dampness  and  the  danger  of 
rust.  They  should  in  all  cases,  however,  be  pro- 
tected by  coverings  of  fireproof  material  and  they 
should  be  thoroughly  tested  for  thin  places  caused 
by  c '  floating  cores ' '  and  other  defects  in  casting. 
The  thickness  of  the  casting  should  be  beyond  all 
question  as  to  factors  of  safety  (never  less  than 
one  inch  for  lower  stories  especially)  and  only 
round  columns  should  be  used. 

The  New  York  building  law  requires  that  no 
cast-iron  column  shall  be  of  less  average  thick- 
ness than  three-quarters  of  an  inch  ;  nor  shall  it 
have  an  unsupported  length  of  more  than  twenty 
times  its  least  lateral  dimensions  or  diameter. 
The  law  also  requires  that  its  bearings  shall  be 
faced  smooth  and  at  right  angles  to  the  axis  of 
the  column  and  when  one  column  rests  upon 
another  column  they  shall  be  securely  bolted 
together. 


CAMMEYER  BUILDING,   NEW  YORK. 

FIRE,    JANUARY    18,    1899. 

DAMAGED  BRICK  PIER  SHOWING  EFFECT  OF  FIRE  ON  STONE  CAP  AND  BOND  STONES. 
INTEGRITY  OF  PIER  LOST. 


•m   m 


HORNE  OFFICE  BUILDING    PITTSBURG. 


< GO 


120'0" 
PENN 


'  '''5 

/    fx 
•     O 


1ORNE  OFFICE  ,; 


940 


'°\ 


AVENUE 


or 

o ;•• 
' 


LIBERTY 


AVENUE 


CONSUMED 

PARTIALLY  CONSUMED 

HORNE  BUILDING  (FIREPROOF)  AND  SURROUNDINGS,  PITTSBURG,  PA. 

GROUND  PLAN. 
(Published  by  consent  of  THE  ENGINEERING  RECORD.) 


FIRE   JENKINS  WHOLESALE  GROCERY  STORE,   PITTSBURG. 

FIRE    MAY    3,    1897. 

(Published  by  consent  of  THE  ENGINEERING  KECORD.) 


HORNE  BUILDING    PITTSBURG,  ENTRANCE. 


HORNE  BUILDING,   PITTSBURG. 

SHOWING  FIREPROOF  FLOORS  BROKEN  THROUGH. 


HORNE  BUILDING,  PITTSBURG    INTERIOR. 


HORNE  BUILDING,   PITTSBURG. 

SHOWING  COLUMNS  STRIPPED    WELL  HOLE,   ETC. 


HORNE  BUILDING,   PITTSBURG. 

SHOWING  FALLEN  TANK,  ETC. 


HOME  LIFE  "FIREPROOF"  BUILDING,  NEW  YORK. 

FIRE    DECEMBER    4,    1898. 

SHOWING  BUILDING  BEFORE  THE  FIRE. 


Mil 


HOME  LIFE  "FIREPROOF"  BUILDING,    NEW  YORK. 

FIRE   DECEMBER   4,    1898. 
SHOWING   BUILDING  AFTER  THE  FIRE. 

FIRE    DAMAGE    APPRAISED   $200,000.    OF   WHICH    THE    CONTINENTAL'S    SHARE    WAS   $40,000. 


GROUND  PLAN   OF  HOME  LIFE  BUILDING. 

SHOWING   COURT,  ETC. 
(Published  by  consent  of  THE  ENGINEERING  RECORD.) 


HOME  LIFE  BUILDING,  SHOWING  COURT. 

WHICH   BY  INCREASING  DRAFT  CONTRIBUTED  TO  THE  DAMAGE. 

(Published  by  consent  of  THE  ENGINEERING  RECORD.) 


HOME  LIFE  BUILDING.     STONE  FRONT  AFTER  FIRE. 
(Published  by  consent  of  THE  ENGINEERING  KECORD.) 


ROOM   IN   HOME  LIFE  BUILDING  AFTER  FIRE. 
(Published  by  consent  of  THE  ENGINEERING  RECORD.) 


MANHATTAN   SAVINGS  BANK  BUILDING. 

FIRE  NOV.  4,  1885.       PAGE  20. 
LOSS  $225,000.  CONTINENTAL  INS.  CO.,  PAID  $20,355. 


INSTRUCTIONS  FOR  CONSTRUCTION 


OF 


FIRE  DOORS  AID  SHUTTERS 


ADOPTED  BY 


New  York  Board  of  Fire  Underwriters 


MARCH  17,  1897. 


Placing  your  fire  insurance  in  some 
companies  is  like 

KEEPING  YOUR  VALUABLES 

IN    A    PASTEBOARD    BOX 

INSTEAD  OF  A  MODERN  SAFE 

when  you  have  the  choice  of  either  at 
the  same  price. 

Get  a  CONTINENTAL  policy  and  you 
are  sure  of  absolute  indemnity  at  fair 
rates. 

An  old  established  AMERICAN  COMPANY 
whose  fixed  policy,  financial  strength,  pro- 
gressive management  and  fair  treatment  of 
policyholders,  are  guaranteed  by  its  past  record. 

"Insure  in  an  American  Company." 

CONTINENTAL    FIRE    INS.    CO., 

46  Cedar  Street,  New  York. 

Rialto  Building,  Chicago,  Ills. 


INSTRUCTIONS  FOR  CONSTRUCTION 


OF 


FIRE  DOORS  AND  SHUTTERS. 


Communications  between  buildings  should  be  cut  off  by  fire  doors 
each  side  of  opening,  as  follows: 

There  should  be  no  woodwork  or  furring  about  the  opening;  the 
doors  should  be  made  of  two  thicknesses  (except  where  openings 
are  made  larger  than  called  for  in  the  Standard.  See  page  n)  of 
i-inch  narrow,  tongued  and  grooved,  soft  white  pine  boards  (free 
from  sap,  pitch  or  moisture  of  any  kind),  laid  diagonally  (both  sides) 
and  nailed  with  wrought  iron  nails  driven  through  and  clinched, 
then  covered  on  both  sides  and  edges  with  ioxi4-inch  sheets  of 
"  bright  I.  C."  tin,  except  where  doors  are  exposed  to  an  atmos- 
phere liable  to  cause  rust  (then  TERNE  PLATES  should  be  used  in 
place  of  tin),  joints  flat-locked  and  securely  nailed  under  laps 
(barbed  wire  nails  to  be  used,  i^  inches  in  size,  to  be  driven  2 


I       I 


I 


inches  apart;  for  shutters  i-inch  barbed  wire  nails  should  be  used), 
but  not  soldered. 

The  plugging  of  walls  with  wood  or  lead,  or  the  use  of  lag  screws 
will  not  be  permitted;  tracks  or  other  fittings  put  up  in  this  man- 
ner, will  not  be  approved. 


AUTOMATIC  BOORS. 

It  is  preferable  that  all  communicating  doors  be  arranged  to 
close  automatically  in  case  of  fire,  and  where  a  building  fully 
equipped  with  sprinklers  communicates  with  one  not  so  equipped, 
the  doors  at  the  communications  must  be  arranged  to  close  auto- 
matically. [See  drawing  on  page  4.] 


SLIDING  DOORS. 

[See  drawing  on  page  4.] 

When  sliding  doors  are  used,  they  must  be  of  sufficient  size  to 
lap  3  inches  over  the  opening  at  sides  and  top,  and  they  must  be 
hung  to  suitable  steel  trolley  tracks,  and  the  brackets,  hangers 
and  all  other  fittings  in  connection  with  tracks  and  doors  should 
be  made  of  wrought  or  malleable  iron,  and  hangers  should  be 
firmly  bolted  to  and  through  doors  by  carriage  bolts,  and 

Where  walls  are  16  inches  or  less  in  thickness,  then  fastenings 
of  tracks,  hinges  and  other  fittings  for  carrying  doors  or  holding 


the  same  fast  to  brickwork,  should  be  bolted  to  and  through  same 
with  necessary  washers  and  nuts,  and 

Where  walls  are  over  16  inches  in  thickness,  brackets  for  hold- 
ing tracks  should  be  firmly  bolted  to  the  brick  wall  (both  sides)  by 
expansion  bolts  ^  x  6  inches,  with  not  more  than  20  inches  space 
between  each  bolt.  The  tracks  should  be  placed  at  an  incline 
not  less  than  |/6  to  ^  inch  to  the  foot,  and  at  such  height  that  the 
door,  when  closed,  will  rest  firmly  on  the  sill,  and  at  the  lower 
and  upper  corner  about  6  inches  from  top  and  bottom,  iron  bind- 
ers (counter-sunk)  must  be  bolted  to  brick  wall  and  jambs  by  ex- 
pansion bolts  ^4x6  inches,  to  keep  doors  in  place,  and  when 
closed,  to  hold  them  close  to  the  wall,  and  a  guide  also  bolted  to 
brickwork  should  be  placed  at  the  other  lower  corner,  as  shown  in 
drawing  on  page  4.  Handles  should  be  placed  on  doors  (counter- 
sunk) on  the  inside  and  pull  handles  on  the  outside.  [See  draw- 
ings on  pages  17  to  19  for  fittings.] 

When  required,  a  light  framework  of  slats  must  be  built  outside 
of  doors  to  prevent  piling  of  stock,  etc.,  against  same. 

In  order  to  allow  the  doors  to  run  free  and  not  chafe  against 
the  wall,  the  roller  part  of  guide  should  be  set  about  ^  inch  from 
door  when  hung  and  open;  then  a  wedge-shaped  piece  of  iron  (as 
shown  in  drawings  on  pages  4  and  17)  should  be  screwed  to  door 
near  the  lower  corner  in  such  a  position  as  to  bring  the  wedge 
between  door  and  roller  guide,  so  as  to  clamp  the  door  tight 
against  the  wall  when  closed. 

If  chafing    strips   are   used   on    sliding   doors,   they   should   be 


screwed  to  the  inside  part  and  run  across  door  about   5   inches 
shorter  at  each  end  than  the  width  of  doors. 


SWINGING  DOORS. 

When  swinging  doors  are  used  they  must  be  hung  on  iron  hold- 
fasts built  in  wall,  or  hooks  bolted  through  the  wall,  or  by  wrought 
or  malleable  iron  plates  firmly  set  by  expansion  bolts,  or  hinged  to 
iron  rabbeted  jambs  [see  drawing  on  page  10]  securely  bolted  to 
brickwork,  and  the  hinges  should  be  of  wrought  iron  %  to  fa  inch 
thick  by  1^/2  to  2  inches  wide,  extending  two-thirds  across  each 
door,  bolted  to  and  through  same  by  carriage  bolts,  the  heads  of 
bolts  resting  against  washers  outside  of  tin,  and  nut  to  screw 
against  hinge;  doors  when  closed  should  be  fastened  by  heavy 
wrought  iron  drop-latch  bolted  to  and  through  doors  in  the  same 
manner  as  with  hinges;  catch  to  receive  latch  must  be  securely 
fastened  to  brickwork.  If  bolts  are  used  then  iron  plates  with 
opening  for  bolts  to  slide  in  must  be  bolted  to  brickwork. 

All  swinging  doors  to  close  in  jambs  flush  with  face  of  wall. 
[See  drawings  on  page  6  and  8.]  Where  doors  close  in  jambs 
without  rabbet,  they  must  have  iron  astragal  2^  inches  wide,  \yz 
inches  on  doors,  all  around  outer  edge  of  doors,  fastened  by  bolts 
set  8'  inches  apart,  bolted  to  and  through  same,  and  lapping  over 
brickwork  i^  inches.  [Drawing  on  page  6,  shows  astragal  door. 
Drawing  on  page  8,  shows  rabbet  built  in  brickwork.  Drawing  011 
page  TO,  shows  rabbet  made  by  angle  iron.] 


RABBETED  DOORS. 

When  the  doors  are  made  in  two  parts  the  edges  of  the  doors 
where  they  come  together  should  be  rabbeted,  the  single  boarding 
of  each  door  extending  over  and  fitting  in  that  of  the  other  about 
i  inch  [see  drawing  on  page  12],  so  as  to  make  a  close  joint  when 
closed;  these  doors  to  be  hung  and  hinges  put  on  the  same  as 
swinging  doors,  and  the  door  that  is  closed  first  should  be  fastened 
by  bolts  on  the  inside,  top  and  bottom,  let  into  sills  and  lintels; 
and  on  the  door  that  closes  last,  there  must  be  placed  a  wrought 
or  malleable  iron  drop-latch  (as  shown  in  drawings  on  pages  12  and 
18),  with  latch-guide  firmly  bolted  to  and  through  door  by  car- 
riage bolts,  and  with  catch  placed  on  the  opposite  door  in  such 
manner  that  the  door  can  be  opened  from  either  side. 


SILLS. 

All  sills  must  be  of  stone  or  iron  and  rest  on  the  solid  brick  wall 
with  highest  side  at  least  1^2  inches  above  the  floor  and  to  be 
full  width  of  the  wall,  and  set  in  the  brick  jambs  2  inches  and  ex- 
tend at  least  3^  inches  beyond  the  face  of  wall,  both  sides,  so 
that  inclines  even  with  top  of  sills  may  be  used  and  not  interfere 
with  the  closing  of  doors.  [See  drawing  on  page  16.] 


IO 


LINTELS. 

Lintels  should  be  of  stone  or  iron,  but  if  wood  lintels  are  found 
in  old  arches  the  same  must  be  protected  by  tin,  put  on  the  same  as 
on  doors,  edges  flashed  in  brickwork. 


OPENINGS. 

When  openings  are  over  4  feet  in  width  and  7  feet  in  height,  then 
doors  must  be  increased  in  thickness  in  proportion  to  the  increased 
size  of  said  openings,  but  should  not  be  larger  than  6x8  feet,  and 
should  be  made  of  three  (instead  of  two).,  thicknesses  (as  shown  in 
drawing  on  page  2,  and  Section  on  page  17). 


FIRE  SHUTTERS. 

All  batten  fire  shutters  should  be  made  the  same  as  rabbeted 
doors,  except  two  thicknesses  of  %-inch  or  not  less  than  ^-inch  nar- 
row, tongued  and  grooved,  soft  white  pine  boards  should  be  used, 
the  same  as  for  fire  doors,  and  the  edges  covered  with  galvanized 
iron,  in  strips  about  9  inches  in  width,  forming  a  border  to  cover 
edges  and  lap  over  on  each  side  of  shutter  about  3^  inches,  the 
edges  of  same  to  be  turned  up  to  receive  Terne  Plate  (in  place  of 
tin)  in  order  to  form  a  proper  lap  joint;  the  Terne  Plate  to  have 

ii 


12 


no  vertical  joints  except  with  border,  and  the  galvanized  iron 
border  to  have  joints,  one  at  each  corner;  and  all  cross-lap  joints 
should  be  made  in  such  a  manner  that  water  will  not  work  in  back 
of  plates  to  wood  (the  galvanized  iron  to  conform  as  near  as  possi- 
ble to  the  grade  of  I.  C.  tin). 

Where  shutters  come  together,  they  should  be  rabbeted,  and 
provided  with  strap  hinges  to  run  two-thirds  across  each,  bolted 
to  and  through  same  by  carriage  bolts,  and  hung  to  wrought  iron 
eyes  built  in  brickwork,  or  by  bolts  passing  through  walls,  held  by 
nuts  and  washers,  so  that  they  can  close  inside  of  brick  jambs  and 
be  fastened  to  iron  cross-bar  of  not  less  than  y&  to  ^  inch  thick 
by  \y2  inches  in  width,  ends  let  in  brickwork.  [See  drawing  on 
page  14.] 

In  cases  where  shutters  cannot  be  properly  placed  to  close  in- 
side of  brick  jambs,  then  they  must  be  made  to  lap  3  inches  over 
the  window  openings  (at  sides  and  top),  and  arranged  to  close 
tight  on  stone  or  iron  sills. 

The  fastenings  or  latches  at  windows  [see  drawing  on  page  19], 
above  the  first  floor,  should  be  so  arranged,  when  required,  that 
they  can  be  opened  from  the  outside  [see  drawing  on  page  14]. 

Where  standard  wood,  metal  covered,  shutters  are  not  required, 
and 

IRON  SHUTTERS 

are  permitted,  the  said  iron  shutters  should  be  made  as  follows: 
If  the  window  openings  are  of  ordinary  size,  say  4  feet  6  inches 


mmmm 


r 


14 


by  8  feet  6  inches  to  9  feet,  the  frame  should  be  of  3-16  angle  iron 
ij£xi%  inches. 

For  openings  of  from  6xio  feet,  the  frames  should  be  not  less 
than  Y*  inch  angle  iron  2x2  inches.  For  larger  openings  than  the 
above,  frames  should  be  increased  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  shut- 
ter, and  be  covered  with  not  less  than  No.  16  blue  annealed  iron. 

For  all  shutters  over  8  feet  high,  at  least  three  eyes  shall  be 
provided  on  each  side,  and  if  hung  to  iron  hanger  frames,  at  least 
three  anchors  to  brickwork,  on  each  side,  shall  be  provided. 

All  iron  shutters  should  be  hung  to  suitable  iron  hanger  frames, 
or  to  iron  eyes  securely  fastened  in  the  walls,  and  so  arranged 
that  when  closed,  the  shutters  will  be  at  least  4  inches  free  and 
clear  of  all  woodwork. 

Shutters  should  be  kept  well  painted. 


ADDITIONAL  INSTRUCTION. 

In  all  the  cases  above-mentioned,  work  will  be  subject  to  the 
approval  of  the  Inspector  of  this  Board,  and  should  there  be  any 
doubt  as  to  the  method  of  doing  the  work  or  any  change  or  modi- 
fication, further  instruction  will  be  given  at  this  office. 


16 


i8 


INDEX. 


A. 

American  Exchange  Bank,  30. 
Arches  between  beams,  36. 
Automatic  Sprinkler  Pipes,  73. 

B, 

Beams,  35. 

Boiler  room,  44. 

Bond  stones,  29,  83. 

Bonner,  Chief,  85. 

Braces,  iron,  76. 

Brick,  25. 

Burnley  Mills,  England,  34. 

C. 

Cammeyer  b'ld'g  fire,  83,  86,  87. 
Capitol  at  Albany,  N.  Y.,  33. 
Cast  iron,  7,  9,  not  liable  to  rust, 

8,  31. 
Cellars,  dampness  in  causes  rust, 

11. 

Ceiling,  wooden,  72. 
Cement,  9. 

Channels  for  pipes,  wires,  etc.,  82. 
Chimneys,  45,  46,  47. 
Closets,  70. 
Columns  arranged  for  stripping 

and  examination,  9. 
Communications,  48. 
Conductivity,  12. 
Contents  of  fireproof  buildings, 

destructibility,  21. 
Conflagrations,  22,  23. 
Courts  as  flues,  54. 
Curtain  walls,  25. 
Cut  offs,  gas  and  electricity,  62. 

D. 

Doors  between  buildings,  48. 
Doors,  fireproof,  53,  75. 
Dry  rot,  71. 
Dynamo  rooms,  45,  62. 


E. 

Electric  lighting,  45,  70,  cut  offs 

at  street  for  firemen,  62. 
Elevators,  7,  42,  67. 
Enclosing  walls,  22,  68,  thin,  25, 

End  construction,  36. 
Expansion  of  iron,  11,  12,  34,  of 
masonry,  12,  13,  14. 

F. 

Fire  escapes,  52. 

Fire  extinguishing  appliances,  62, 

73,  81. 

Fireproof  doors,  48,  53,  75. 
Fireproof  shutters,  53,  75. 
Fireproof  wood,  40,  80. 
Fireproofing  iron  members,  7,  32. 
Fireplaces,  45. 
Floor  arches,  36. 
Floor  boards,  40,  67,  76. 
Foundation,  67. 

G. 

Gas,  cutting  off  supply  main,  62. 
Glass  windows,  6,  wire  glass,  54. 
Girders,  35. 
Guastavino  arches,  77. 

H. 

Hallway,  fireproof,  48,  49,  50,  51. 
Heat  of  burning  building,  22,  27. 
Home  Life  Building,  75. 
Home  Building,  6,  21,  41. 

I. 

Insurance  companies  interest  in 

fireproof  construction,  57. 
Iron  columns,  85. 


Luxfer  prisms,  41. 


INDEX. 


M. 

Melting  points,  22. 
Merchandise  in  high  buildings,  16 
Mills,  Burnley,  34. 
Mills  Building,  7. 
Mill  construction,  63. 

N. 

New  York  Board  rules  for  fire- 
proof doors  and  shutters,  109. 
Non-fireproof  buildings,  63. 

O. 

Oil  fires,  sand  for,  73. 
Openings  through  floors,  7. 
Outside  stairways,  52. 

P. 

Parapet  walls,  69. 

Paint,  10. 

Partitions  should   be  fireproof, 

16,  80. 

Patent  floor  arches,  37. 
Piers,  29,  84. 
Pillars,  stone,  30. 
Post,  George  B.,  Col.,  32. 
Protected  iron  work,  7,  32,  35. 
Pump  room,  82. 

R. 

Recapitulation,  25,  59. 

Rivets,  11. 

Roof,  16,  43. 

Rubbish,  71. 

Rust,  danger  of,  8,  10. 

S. 

Safes,  iron  fireproof,  77. 
Sand  to  extinguish  fires,  73. 
Sawdust  spittoons,  71. 
Schedule  insurance  rates,  63,  66. 
Sheathing,  wooden,  72. 
Skeleton  construction,  28. 
Skylights,  42,  74. 
Shims,  31. 

Shutters,  fireproof,  53,  109,  self- 
closing,  55. 


Side  construction,  36. 

Slate  roofs,  43. 

Slow  burning  construction,  63. 

Sprinkler  pipes,  73. 

Stairways,  7,  41,  67,  78,  82,  stone 

treads,  19,  20. 
Stand  pipes,  17,  79. 
Standard  building,  66. 
Steam  jets,  83. 
Stone  bonds,  29. 
Stone  fronts,  30,  78. 
Stone  treads,  19,  20,  pillars,  30. 
Stores  and  Warehouses,  63. 
Summary,  25. 
Steel,  8. 
Steel  rivets,  11. 

T. 

Tanks,  17,  52,  69. 
Terra  cotta  arches,  38. 
Tests  of  material,  56. 
Templates,  52. 
Tie  rods,  36. 

U. 

Underwriters,    interest    in    fire- 
proof construction,  57. 

Underwriters'  doors  and  shutters, 
109. 

Universal  Mercantile   Schedule, 
66. 

V. 

Ventilating  shafts,  40. 
Vertical  stand  (water)  pipes,  17. 

W. 

Walls,     thickness    of    etc.,    22, 

Thin,  25,  27. 

Watchman  for  high  buildings,  18. 
Waste,  71. 

Water  tanks,  17,  52,  69. 
Water  proof  floors,  39,  70. 
Well  holes,  41,  73. 
Western  Union  Building,  12. 
Window  frames,  78. 
Wire  glass,  54. 
Wooden  sheathing  on  side  walls, 

ceilings,  etc.,  72. 


WHY  TO  INSURE  IN  AN  AMERICAN  COMPANY. 

AMERICAN  COMPANIES  ARE  THE  LARGEST; 

of  the  six  companies  (including  the  "Continental") 
reporting  OVER  TEN  MILLION  DOLLARS  IN  ASSETS, 
only  one  is  foreign,  and  its  U.  S.  assets  are  less  than 
those  of  the  "Continental". 

AMERICAN  COMPANIES  ARE  THE  STRONGEST; 

of  the  five  companies  (including  the  "Continental") 
whose  reports  show  a  surplus  to  policyholders  EXCEED- 
ING FIVE  MILLION  DOLLARS,  none  are  foreign. 

COSTS  NO  MORE. 

Why  patronize  foreigners  when  you  can  get  the  same 
thing  at  the  same  price  from  fellow-countrymen? 

GIVES  BUSINESS  TO  THOSE  WHO  GIVE  YOU  BUSINESS: 

Stockholders  of  the  American  Companies  are  their  part- 
ners and  as  they  are  distributed  throughout  the  United 
States,  they  are  doing  business  with  you. 

PROFIT,  IF  ANY,  REMAINS  IN  THIS  COUNTRY, 

contributing  to  the  general  prosperity,  which  in  turn 
benefits  YOU. 


THE 

CONTINENTAL 
INSURANCE 

COMPANY 

of  New  York. 


WHY  TO  INSURE  IN  THE  CONTINENTAL. 

Is  an  American  Company,  owned  by  Americans  and  managed  by 
Americans. 

Does  business  under  the  Safety  Fund  Law,  making  its  policy 
"Conflagration  Proof." 

Assets  ($11,599,011.)  and  surplus  ($5,901 ,328.)  to  policy- 
holders  are  larger  than  those  in  the  U.  S.  of  any  foreign 
company. 

Paid  in  full  all  losses  incurred  in  the  great  Chicago  and  Boston 
conflagrations. 

Since  organization  its  loss  payments  to  policyholders  exceed 
Forty-Seven  Millions  of  Dollars. 

You  secure,  if  desired,  the  advantage  of  inspection  by  experi- 
enced men,  and  will  be  furnished  on  request  with  in- 
formation regarding  safe  construction  of  buildings,  etc. 

Prompt  attention  to  loss  adjustments  ensured  by  the  organized 
force  of  travelling  men  which  the  Company's  large  busi- 
ness enables  it  to  maintain  to  cover  every  section  of  the 
country  and  which  a  smaller  company  could  not  afford. 

Organized  in  1 852,  its  fifty  years  of  successful  business  prove 
its  financial  strength,  conservative  management  and 
fair  treatment  of  polh 


UNIVERSITY 


FIRE  INSURANCE. 

Every  CONTINENTAL  policy  is  issued 
under  the  " Safety  Fund  Law"  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  and  all  policy  holders 
obtain  the  additional  security  provided 
by  that  law.  A  CONTINENTAL  policy  is 
< '  Conflagration  Proof. ' ' 

RENT  INSURANCE. 

A  lease  is  usually  terminated  by  a  par- 
tial or  total  destruction  of  the  building 
by  fire.  The  owner  not  only  suffers  loss 
on  the  building,  but  also  on  rents.  At 
small  cost  you  can  insure  against  such 
loss  in  the  CONTINENTAL. 

TORNADO  INSURANCE. 

Official  figures  (U.  S.  Government)  show 
368  tornadoes  in  the  United  States  since 
1899  causing  loss  of  over  twenty-three 
millions  of  dollars.  These  figures  refer 
only  to  wind- storms  having  the  peculiar 
features  of  tornadoes  as  technically 
known.  Hurricanes,  cyclones  and  ordi- 
nary  wind-storms  are  not  included,  a 
CONTINENTAL  tornado  policy  covers  loss 
or  damage  from  any  of  these. 

j ,";, -V.T-"  Agents  everywhere. 

CONTINENTAL  FIRE  INS.  CO., 

46  Cedar  Street,  New  York. 

Rialto  Building,  Chicago,  Ills. 

"Insure  in  an  American  Company." 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


EDWARD  LANNING,  Secretary. 
J.  E.  LOPEZ, 
E.  L.  BALLARD, 


CO. 


<      NOV  11  1915 

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ent. 

Ass't  Secretaries. 


Western  Dep't,  Rialto  Building,  Chicago,  Ills. 

GEO.  E.  KLINE,  General  Manager. 

C.  R.  TUTTLE,  Ass't  Gen'l  Manager. 


